Browsing and plant traits in nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor savannas inTanzania
dc.contributor.author | Mramba, Rosemary P. | |
dc.contributor.author | Andreassen, Harry P. | |
dc.contributor.author | Skarpe, Christina | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2021-08-31T09:14:56Z | |
dc.date.available | 2021-08-31T09:14:56Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2017 | |
dc.description | Abstract. Full text article available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S026646741700030X | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | Environmental productivityisimportantindeterminingdefensiveortolerancetraitsofplants,with nutrient-rich savannas showing tolerance and nutrient-poor showing defence traits. Animals are affected differently by such traits due to differences in size, and other characters. We studied differences in browsing as a response to plant traits by elephant, giraffe and impala in Mikumi, a nutrient-poor savanna, and Serengeti, a nutrient-rich savanna, both in Tanzania, for a total of 4 mo; 2 mo at each site. Browsing time on a plant, species and height browsed were recorded. Spinesence reduced biting rate by elephant in Serengeti to 3.8 bites min−1, compared with 4.7 without spines, but had no effect on impala or giraffe. Leaf size affected biting rate by giraffe, decreasing with size in Serengeti from 19.8 bitesmin−1to 17.4 bites min−1, increasing in Mikumi, from 17.7 to 19.5 bites min−1, but did not differ in elephant and impala. Biting rate by elephant in Serengeti decreased with browsing height from 0.6 m to 4.2 m and by impala in Mikumi decreased from 0.25 m to 1.5 m, while that of giraffe in Mikumi increased with browsing height, peaking at4.2 m. The effect was comparable for elephant and impala | en_US |
dc.identifier.citation | Mramba, R. P., Andreassen, H. P., & Skarpe, C. (2017). Browsing and plant traits in nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor savannas in Tanzania. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 33(5), 327-236. | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | DOI:10.1017/S026646741700030X | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12661/3311 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | Cambridge University Press | en_US |
dc.subject | Plant traits | en_US |
dc.subject | Leaf size | en_US |
dc.subject | Loxodonta africana | en_US |
dc.subject | Aepyceros melampus | en_US |
dc.subject | Africa | en_US |
dc.subject | Tanzania | en_US |
dc.subject | Giraffa camelopardalis | en_US |
dc.subject | Mikumi national park | en_US |
dc.subject | Serengeti national park | en_US |
dc.subject | Soil nutrient | en_US |
dc.subject | Spinesence | en_US |
dc.title | Browsing and plant traits in nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor savannas inTanzania | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |