Seasonal diet and prey preference of the African lion in a waterhole-driven semi-arid savanna.
Seasonal diet and prey preference of the African lion in a waterhole-driven semi-arid savanna.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0055182
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发表时间：
2013
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Macdonald DW
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Davidson Z;Valeix M;Van Kesteren F;Loveridge AJ;Hunt JE;Murindagomo F;Macdonald DW
大型食肉动物生活在环境资源分布不均且具有强烈季节性变化的生态系统中，它们经常采用机会主义的觅食策略，通常以食物的季节性变化为代表。在半干旱生态系统中，在地表水丰富的雨季，食草动物的分布通常比只有永久来源的旱季更为均匀。在这里，我们调查了不同草食动物物种的季节性贡献，猎物偏好和非洲狮子在津巴布韦Hwange国家公园的猎物分布(即摄食地点)，Hwange国家公园是一个由人工水洞构成的半干旱非洲稀树大草原。我们使用了245例死亡病例和74例粪便样本的数据。水牛在所有季节都一直是雄狮(56%)和雌狮(33%)最经常使用的猎物，对狮子的食物生物量贡献最大。雅各布斯指数还显示，水牛是全年最密集选择的物种。对于雌性狮子来说，斗鱼和次要的“中型牛科”是最重要的次要猎物。这项研究揭示了雌性狮子二次捕食的季节模式，部分基于浏览器的捕食生态，如长颈鹿和秃鹫，主要在旱季早期食用，而食草动物，如斑马和猪，在旱季后期对雌性食物的贡献更大。此外，它还揭示了狮子的机会主义猎食行为，从大象到老鼠，种类繁多，干旱期间，大象大多在旱季结束时被捕获。雅各布斯指数最终显示，除小羚羊外，所有猎物物种在所有季节都非常倾向于在距离水坑2公里以内的地方捕杀。这表明，地表水资源形成了被动陷阱，有助于形成狮子觅食行为的结构。
Large carnivores inhabiting ecosystems with heterogeneously distributed environmental resources with strong seasonal variations frequently employ opportunistic foraging strategies, often typified by seasonal switches in diet. In semi-arid ecosystems, herbivore distribution is generally more homogeneous in the wet season, when surface water is abundant, than in the dry season when only permanent sources remain. Here, we investigate the seasonal contribution of the different herbivore species, prey preference and distribution of kills (i.e. feeding locations) of African lions in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, a semi-arid African savanna structured by artificial waterholes. We used data from 245 kills and 74 faecal samples. Buffalo consistently emerged as the most frequently utilised prey in all seasons by both male (56%) and female (33%) lions, contributing the most to lion dietary biomass. Jacobs’ index also revealed that buffalo was the most intensively selected species throughout the year. For female lions, kudu and to a lesser extent the group “medium Bovidae” are the most important secondary prey. This study revealed seasonal patterns in secondary prey consumption by female lions partly based on prey ecology with browsers, such as giraffe and kudu, mainly consumed in the early dry season, and grazers, such as zebra and suids, contributing more to female diet in the late dry season. Further, it revealed the opportunistic hunting behaviour of lions for prey as diverse as elephants and mice, with elephants taken mostly as juveniles at the end of the dry season during droughts. Jacobs’ index finally revealed a very strong preference for kills within 2 km from a waterhole for all prey species, except small antelopes, in all seasons. This suggested that surface-water resources form passive traps and contribute to the structuring of lion foraging behaviour.
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影响因子：
1.7
作者：
de Boer, Willem F.;Vis, Marc J. P.;Prins, Herbert H. T.
通讯作者：
Prins, Herbert H. T.
影响因子：
1.5
作者：
Bacon, Michelle M.;Becic, Greg M.;Boyce, Mark S.
通讯作者：
Boyce, Mark S.
影响因子：
2.7
作者：
JACOBS, J
通讯作者：
JACOBS, J
影响因子：
2
作者：
Hayward, M. W.
通讯作者：
Hayward, M. W.
影响因子：
--
作者：
Lehmann, Monika B.;Funston, Paul J.;Slotow, Rob
通讯作者：
Slotow, Rob