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

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorVeldhuis,M. P
dc.contributor.authorKihwele, E. S
dc.contributor.authorCromsigt, J. P
dc.contributor.authorOgutu,G. M
dc.contributor.authorHopcraft, J. O
dc.contributor.authorSmith, J. G. C.
dc.contributor.authorOwen, N.
dc.contributor.authorOlff, H.
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-16T09:45:02Z
dc.date.available2024-04-16T09:45:02Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.descriptionResearch article submitted to ecology letters of 2019
dc.description.abstractThe 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 spatial homogeneity in water availability in drylands reduces the number of Ungu late species that will coexist. But we also predict that extreme droughts will cause the larger, water-dependent grazers as wildebeest, zebra and buffalo–dominant species in savanna ecosystems– to be replaced by smaller, less water-dependent species. Subsequently, we explore how other constraints such as predation risk and thermoregulation are connected to this two-dimensional framework. Our novel framework integrates multiple simultaneous stressors for herbivores and yields an extensive set of testable hypotheses about the expected changes in large herbivore community composition following climate change
dc.description.sponsorshipPrivate
dc.identifier.citationAPA
dc.identifier.issndoi/pdf/10.1111/ele.13350
dc.identifier.urihttps://scholar.mzumbe.ac.tz/handle/123456789/629
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherEcology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
dc.subjectClimate change
dc.subjectniche differentiation
dc.subjectPredation risk
dc.subjectunqulates
dc.subjectWater requirements
dc.titleLarge herbivore assemblages in a changing climate: Incorporating water dependence and thermoregulation
dc.typeArticle
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
Veldhuis,M. P... et all, 2019.pdf
Size:
787.03 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed to upon submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Research Articles[FSS-Eco]