The spatial distribution of African savannah herbivores: species associations and habitat occupancy in a landscape context
The spatial distribution of African savannah herbivores: species associations and habitat occupancy in a landscape context
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DOI：
10.1098/rstb.2015.0314
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发表时间：
2016-09-19
影响因子：
6.3
通讯作者：
Packer, Craig
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Anderson, T. Michael;White, Staci;Packer, Craig
食草动物在决定热带稀树草原的结构和功能方面起着重要作用。在这里，我们（i）概述了一个框架，大型哺乳动物之间的相互作用，食草动物和环境变化影响食草动物栖息地占用热带稀树草原。然后，我们（ii）使用贝叶斯分层模型分析相机陷阱数据，以量化的空间格局的栖息地占用狮子和8种常见的有蹄类动物的不同身体大小在大约1100公里（2）景观中的塞伦盖蒂生态系统。我们的研究结果显示，在整个景观的规模草食动物之间的强正相关。狮子与迁徙有蹄类动物呈正相关，但与居民呈负相关。草食动物的栖息地占用不同的身体大小和迁移策略：大身体的移民，在捕食的风险较小，能够容忍低质量的食物，与高的NDVI，而较小的居民，限制到更高质量的饲料，避免这些地区。小型食草动物与火灾密切相关，可能是由于随后的高质量再生长，而较大的食草动物则避免燃烧区域。体重是密切相关的草食动物栖息地的使用，较大的物种更强烈地与河流和林地比较小的物种。大型移民显示扩散的栖息地占用，而较小的物种表现出精细的规模占用，反映了使用较小的补丁的高品质的栖息地。我们的研究结果表明，出现了强烈的积极的空间协会之间的一个不同的组稀树萨凡纳食草动物，同时强调物种特异性栖息地的选择强烈决定的食草动物的身体size.This文章的一部分，主题问题“热带草生物群落：连接生态，人类使用和保护”。
Herbivores play an important role in determining the structure and function of tropical savannahs. Here, we (i) outline a framework for how interactions among large mammalian herbivores, carnivores and environmental variation influence herbivore habitat occupancy in tropical savannahs. We then (ii) use a Bayesian hierarchical model to analyse camera trap data to quantify spatial patterns of habitat occupancy for lions and eight common ungulates of varying body size across an approximately 1100 km(2) landscape in the Serengeti ecosystem. Our results reveal strong positive associations among herbivores at the scale of the entire landscape. Lions were positively associated with migratory ungulates but negatively associated with residents. Herbivore habitat occupancy differed with body size and migratory strategy: large-bodied migrants, at less risk of predation and able to tolerate lower quality food, were associated with high NDVI, while smaller residents, constrained to higher quality forage, avoided these areas. Small herbivores were strongly associated with fires, likely due to the subsequent high-quality regrowth, while larger herbivores avoided burned areas. Body mass was strongly related to herbivore habitat use, with larger species more strongly associated with riverine and woodlands than smaller species. Large-bodied migrants displayed diffuse habitat occupancy, whereas smaller species demonstrated fine-scale occupancy reflecting use of smaller patches of high-quality habitat. Our results demonstrate the emergence of strong positive spatial associations among a diverse group of savannah herbivores, while highlighting species-specific habitat selection strongly determined by herbivore body size.This article is part of the themed issue 'Tropical grassy biomes: linking ecology, human use and conservation'.