Large mammal declines and the incipient loss of mammal-bird mutualisms in an African savanna ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Over the past half-century, large mammal populations have declined substantially throughout East Africa, mainly due to habitat loss and unsustainable direct exploitation. While it has been acknowledged that the loss of large mammals can have direct and cascading effects on community composition and ecosystem characteristics, limited quantitative work has been done on how declines of large herbivore populations impacts the abundance of mutualistic symbionts. Using a space-for-time observational approach, we quantified the large mammal community alongside the densities, host preferences and behaviors of mutualistic red-billed oxpeckers (Buphagus erythrorhynchus), and yellow-billed oxpeckers (Buphagus africanus) in northern Tanzania. At the landscape scale, mammal community composition was su

SUBMITTER: Diplock N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6112642 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature