Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T21:03:20.151Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Short duration overnight cattle kraaling in natural rangelands leads to increased tree damage by elephants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2021

Rangarirai Huruba ,
Caroline Ndlovu ,
Peter J. Mundy ,
Allan Sebata Open the ORCID record for Allan Sebata [Opens in a new window]  and
Duncan N. MacFadyen
Rangarirai Huruba*
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Resources & Wildlife Management, National University of Science & Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Debshan Ranch, Shangani, Zimbabwe
Caroline Ndlovu
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Resources & Wildlife Management, National University of Science & Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Peter J. Mundy
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Resources & Wildlife Management, National University of Science & Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Allan Sebata
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Resources & Wildlife Management, National University of Science & Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Duncan N. MacFadyen
Affiliation:
E Oppenheimer & Son (Pty) Limited, Parktown, South Africa
*
Author for correspondence: Rangarirai Huruba, Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Elephants are attracted to nutrient hotspots created through short duration overnight cattle corralling (hereafter kraaling) in natural rangelands at Debshan, a mixed cattle-wildlife private ranch in central Zimbabwe, causing severe tree damage. We determined the effect of age of nutrient hotspot (i.e., time after kraal use) on elephant use and the extent of tree damage. Elephant use and tree damage were assessed in nutrient hotspots of varying ages (6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 months after kraal use) and in surrounding landscape. We also compared Acacia karroo bark nutrient and soil nutrient concentration between nutrient hotspots (24 months after kraal use) and the surrounding landscape. Elephant use of nutrient hotspots was highest at 12 and 24 months after kraaling. The most severely damaged trees were in the 12-, 24- and 36-month-old nutrient hotspots. Acacia karroo bark nutrient concentrations (nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron) were higher in nutrient hotspots than surrounding vegetation, while soil nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and potassium) were higher in nutrient hotspots than surrounding landscape. We concluded that elephants mostly used nutrient hotspots 12 and 24 months after kraaling, while severe tree damage occurred 12, 24 and 36 months after kraal use.

Keywords

African elephantscattle kraalingdung countselephant damagenutrient hotspotssavanna
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , January 2022 , pp. 1 - 8
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abraham, JO, Goldberg, ER, Botha, J and Staver, AC (2021) Heterogeneity in African savanna elephant distributions and their impacts on trees in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Ecology and Evolution 00, 1–11.Google Scholar
Anderson, TM, Hopcraft, JGC, Eby, S, Ritchie, M, Grace, JB and Olff, H (2010) Landscape-scale analyses suggest both nutrient and antipredator advantages to Serengeti herbivore hotspots. Ecology 91, 1519–1529.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, JM and Ingram, JSI (1993) Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility: A Handbook of Methods, 2nd Edn. Wallingford: CAB International, p. 221.Google Scholar
Asner, GP and Levick, SR (2012) Landscape-scale effects of herbivores on Treefall in African savannas. Ecology Letters 15, 1211–1217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barnes, RFW (1982) Elephant feeding behaviour in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology 20, 123–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, RFW (2001) How reliable are dung counts for estimating elephant numbers? African Journal of Ecology 39, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ben-Shahar, R (1993) Patterns of elephant damage to vegetation in Northern Botswana. Biological Conservation 65, 249–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloom, AJ, Chapin, FS and Mooney, HA (1985). Resource limitation in plants. An economic analogy. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 16, 363–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chafota, J and Owen-Smith, N (2009) Episodic severe damage to canopy trees by elephants: interactions with fire, frost and rain. Journal of Tropical Ecology 25, 341–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coates Palgrave, K (2002) Trees of Southern Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik Publishers.Google Scholar
Dublin, HT, Sinclair, ARE and McGlade, J (1990) Elephants and fire as causes of multiple stable states in the Serengeti-Mara woodlands. Journal of Animal Ecology 59, 1147–1164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunham, KM, Robertson, EF and Swanepoel, CM (2003) Population decline of tsessebe antelope (Damaliscus lunatus lunatus) on a mixed cattle and wildlife ranch in Zimbabwe. Biological Conservation 113, 111–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
du Toit, JT, Moe, SR and Skarpe, C (2014) Elephant-mediated ecosystem processes in Kalahari-Sand woodlands. In Skarpe, C, du Toit, JT and Moe, SR (eds), Elephants and Savannah Woodland Ecosystems: A Study from Chobe National Park, Botswana. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 30–39.Google Scholar
Frost, PGH (1999) An Ecological Assessment of the Problems of Bush Encroachment and Sodic Soils on Shangani Ranch. Unpublished report, Debshan Ranches, Shangani, Zimbabwe.Google Scholar
Gandiwa, E, Magwati, T, Zisadza, P, Chinuwo, T and Tafangenyasha, C (2011) The impact of African elephants on Acacia tortilis woodland in northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe. Journal of Arid Environments 75, 809–814.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaylard, A (2015) Adopting a heterogeneity paradigm for understanding and managing elephants for biodiversity: a case study in riparian woodlands in Kruger National Park. Dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Science, Johannesburg, South Africa.Google Scholar
Gaylard, A, Owen-Smith, N and Redfern, J (2003). Surface water availability: implications for heterogeneity and ecosystem processes. In du Toit, JT, Biggs, H and Rogers, KH (eds), The Kruger Experience: Ecology and Management of Savanna Heterogeneity. Washington, DC: Island Press, pp. 332–348.Google Scholar
Groenewald, JW and Boyazoglu, PA (1980) Animal Nutrition. Pretoria: Van Schaik.Google Scholar
Guldemond, R and van Aarde, R (2008) A meta-analysis of the impact of African elephants on savanna vegetation. Journal of Wildlife Management 72, 892–899.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiscocks, K (1999) The impact of an increasing elephant population on the woody vegetation in southern Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa. Koedoe 42, 47–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holdo, RM (2007) Elephants, fire, and frost can determine community structure and composition in Kalahari woodlands. Ecological Applications 17, 558–568.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holdo, RM (2003) Woody plant damage by African elephants in relation to leaf nutrients in western Zimbabwe. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19, 189–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huruba, R, Mlambo, T, Mundy, PJ, Sebata, A and MacFadyen, DN (2018) Short-duration overnight cattle kraaling in natural rangelands: Implications for grass composition, quality, above ground biomass, species diversity and basal cover. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 257, 144–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huruba, R, Mundy, PJ, Sebata, A, Purchase, GK and MacFadyen, DN (2017) Impala, Aepyceros melampus: does browse quality influence their use of sites originally utilized as short-duration kraals in a southern African savanna? Rangeland Journal 39, 113–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ihwagi, FW, Chira, RM, Kironchi, G, Vollrath, F and Douglas-Hamilton, I (2011) Rainfall pattern and nutrient content influences on African elephants’ debarking behaviour in Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves, Kenya. African Journal of Ecology 50, 152–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohi, EM, de Boer, WF, Peel, MJS, Slotow, R, van der Waal, C, Heitkonig, IMA, Skidmore, A and Prins, HHT (2011) African elephants Loxodonta africana amplify browse heterogeneity in African savanna. Biotropica 43, 711–721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipsey, MK and Naugle, DE (2017) Precipitation and soil productivity explain effects of grazing on grassland songbirds. Rangeland Ecology and Management 70, 331–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moncrieff, GR, Kruger, LM and Midgley, JJ (2017) Stem mortality of Acacia nigrescens induced by the synergistic effects of elephants and fire in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Journal of Tropical Ecology 24, 655–662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, TA, Holdo, RM and Anderson, TM (2016) Elephant damage, not fire or rainfall, explains mortality of overstorey trees in Serengeti. Journal of Ecology 104, 409–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nellemann, C, Moe, SR and Rutina, LP (2002) Links between terrain characteristics and forage patterns of elephants (Loxodonta africana) in northern Botswana. Journal of Tropical Ecology 18, 835–844.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Connor, GT, Goodman, PS and Clegg, B (2007). A functional hypothesis of the threat of local extirpation of woody plant species by elephant in Africa. Biological Conservation 136, 329–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen-Smith, RN (1988) Megaherbivores. The Influence of Very Large Body Size on Ecology. Cambridge: Cambridge University.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen-Smith, N and Chafota, J (2012) Selective feeding by a megaherbivore, the African elephant (Loxodonta africana). Journal of Mammalogy 93, 698–705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen-Smith, N, Kerley, GIH, Page, B, Slotow, R and van Aarde, RJ (2006) A scientific perspective on the management of elephants in the Kruger National Park and elsewhere. South African Journal of Science 102, 389–394.Google Scholar
Porensky, LM and Veblen, KE (2015) Generation of ecosystem hotspots using short-term cattle corrals in an African Savanna. Rangeland Ecology Management 68, 131–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pretorius, Y, de Boer, WF, van der Waal, C, de Knegt, HJ, Grant, RC, Knox, NM, Kohi, EM, Mwakiwa, E, Page, BR, Peel, MJS, Skidmore, AK, Slotow, R, van Wieren, SE and Prins, HHT (2011) Soil nutrient status determines how elephant utilize trees and shape environments. Journal of Animal Ecology 80, 875–883.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Riginos, C and Grace, JB (2008) Savanna tree density, herbivores, and the herbaceous community: bottom-up versus top down effects. Ecology 89, 2228–2238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, MG, Asao, S and Way, D (2014) Phloem transport in trees. Tree Physiology 34, 1–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Santra, AK, Pan, S, Samanta, AK, Das, S and Halder, S (2008) Nutritional status of forage plants and their use by wild elephants in South West Bengal, India. Tropical Ecology 49, 251–257.Google Scholar
Scogings, PF, Taylor, RW and Ward, D (2012) Inter- and intra-plant variations in nitrogen, tannins and shoot growth of Sclerocarya birrea browsed by elephants. Plant Ecology 213, 483–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seloana, MQ, Jordaan, J, Potgieter, MJ and Kruger, JW (2018) Feeding patterns of elephants at the Atherstone collaborative nature reserve. African Journal of Ecology 56, 445–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shannon, G, Druce, DJ, Page, BR, Eckhardt, HC, Grant, R and Slotow, R (2008) The utilization of large savanna trees by elephant in southern Kruger National Park. Journal of Tropical Ecology 24, 281–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shrader, AM, Bell, C, Bertolli, L and Ward, D (2012) Forest or the trees: at what scale do elephants make foraging decisions? Acta Oecologica 42, 3–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strauss, MKL and Packer, C (2015) Did the elephant and giraffe mediate change in the prevalence of palatable species in an East African Acacia woodland? Journal of Tropical Ecology 31, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Styles, CV and Skinner, JD (2000) The influence of large mammalian herbivores on growth form and utilization of mopane trees, Colophospermum mopane, in Botswana’s Northern Tuli Game Reserve. African Journal of Ecology 38, 95–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornley, R, Spencer, M, Zitzer, H and Parr, CL (2020) Woody vegetation damage by the African elephant during severe drought at Pongola Game Reserve, South Africa. African Journal of Ecology 58, 658–673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veblen, KE (2013) Impacts of traditional livestock corrals on woody plant communities in an East African savanna. Rangeland Journal 35, 349–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veblen, KE and Young, TP (2010).Contrasting effects of cattle and wildlife on the vegetation development of a savanna landscape mosaic. Journal of Ecology 98, 993–1001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verheyden, H, Ballon, P, Bernard, V and Saint-Andrieux, C (2006) Variations in bark-stripping by red deer Cervus elaphus across Europe. Mammal Review 36, 217–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vesey-Fitzgerald, DF (1973) Animal impact on vegetation and plant succession in Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania. Oikos 24, 314–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vogel, SM, Henley, MD, Rode, SC, van de Vyver, D, Meares, KF, Simmons, G and de Boer, WF (2014) Elephant (Loxodonta africana) impact on trees used by nesting vultures and raptors in South Africa. African Journal of Ecology 52, 458–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wanderi, IF (2007) Forage quality and bark utilisation by the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) in Samburu and Buffalo springs national reserves, Kenya. MSc thesis. School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya.Google Scholar
Watson, LH, Cameron, MJ and Iifo, F (2020) Elephant herbivory of knob-thorn (Senegalia nigrescens) and ivory palm (Hyphaene petersiana) in Bwabwata National Park, Caprivi, Namibia: The role of ivory palm as a biotic refuge. African Journal of Ecology 58, 14–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12681 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, JS (2014) The influence of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) on the woody vegetation layer in the semi-arid savanna biome – an assessment of the late dry season feeding habits and preferences and their impact on changes in vegetation community composition and structure. MSc. Dissertation, Napier University, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Wigley, BJ, Coetsee, C, Kruger, LM, Ratnam, J and Sankaran, M (2019) Ants, fire, and bark traits affect how African savanna trees recover following damage. Biotropica, 51, 682–691.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, TP, Kimuyu, DM, Odadi, WO, Wells, HBM and Wolf, AA (2021) Naïve plant communities and individuals may initially suffer in the face of reintroduced megafauna: an experimental exploration of rewilding from an African savanna rangeland. PLoS One 16, e0248855. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248855 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, TP, Palmer, TA and Gadd, ME (2005) Competition and compensation among cattle, zebras, and elephants in a semi-arid savanna in Laikipia, Kenya. Biological Conservation 122, 351–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zar, JH (2010) Biostastical Analysis, 5th Edn., New Jersey, United States of America: Pearson Prentice Hall, p. 663.Google Scholar