Large herbivore assemblages in a changing climate: incorporating water dependence and thermoregulation.

ABSTRACT: The coexistence of different species of large herbivores (ungulates) in grasslands and savannas has fascinated ecologists for decades. However, changes in climate, land-use and trophic structure of ecosystems increasingly jeopardise the persistence of such diverse assemblages. Body size has been used successfully to explain ungulate niche differentiation with regard to food requirements and predation sensitivity. But this single trait axis insufficiently captures interspecific differences in water requirements and thermoregulatory capacity and thus sensitivity to climate change. Here, we develop a two-dimensional trait space of body size and minimum dung moisture content that characterises the combined food and water requirements of large herbivores. From this, we predict that increased sp

SUBMITTER: Veldhuis MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6851681 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature