Seasonal range fidelity of a megaherbivore in response to environmental change.

ABSTRACT: For large herbivores living in highly dynamic environments, maintaining range fidelity has the potential to facilitate the exploitation of predictable resources while minimising energy expenditure. We evaluate this expectation by examining how the seasonal range fidelity of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Kruger National Park, South Africa is affected by spatiotemporal variation in environmental conditions (vegetation quality, temperature, rainfall, and fire). Eight-years of GPS collar data were used to analyse the similarity in seasonal utilisation distributions for thirteen family groups. Elephants exhibited remarkable consistency in their seasonal range fidelity across the study with rainfall emerging as a key driver of space-use. Within years, high range fidelity from sum

SUBMITTER: Burton-Roberts R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9780231 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature