Impacts of large herbivores on terrestrial ecosystems

RM Pringle, JO Abraham, TM Anderson, TC Coverdale… - Current Biology, 2023 - cell.com
Large herbivores play unique ecological roles and are disproportionately imperiled by
human activity. As many wild populations dwindle towards extinction, and as interest grows …

To harness traits for ecology, let's abandon 'functionality'

RP Streit, DR Bellwood - Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2023 - cell.com
Traits are measurable features of organisms. Functional traits aspire to more. They quantify
an organism's ecology and, ultimately, predict ecosystem functions based on local …

Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus

TW Plummer, JS Oliver, EM Finestone, PW Ditchfield… - Science, 2023 - science.org
The oldest Oldowan tool sites, from around 2.6 million years ago, have previously been
confined to Ethiopia's Afar Triangle. We describe sites at Nyayanga, Kenya, dated to 3.032 …

Ecological and behavioral mechanisms of density‐dependent habitat expansion in a recovering African ungulate population

JA Becker, MC Hutchinson, AB Potter… - Ecological …, 2021 - Wiley Online Library
Major disturbances can temporarily remove factors that otherwise constrain population
abundance and distribution. During such windows of relaxed top‐down and/or bottom‐up …

Functional traits of the world's late Quaternary large-bodied avian and mammalian herbivores

EJ Lundgren, SD Schowanek, J Rowan, O Middleton… - Scientific data, 2021 - nature.com
Prehistoric and recent extinctions of large-bodied terrestrial herbivores had significant and
lasting impacts on Earth's ecosystems due to the loss of their distinct trait combinations. The …

Mapping and assessing the impact of small‐scale ephemeral water sources on wildlife in an African seasonal savannah

R Naidoo, A Brennan, AC Shapiro… - Ecological …, 2020 - Wiley Online Library
In many savannah regions of Africa, pronounced seasonal variability in rainfall results in
wildlife being restricted to floodplains and other habitats adjacent to permanent surface …

[HTML][HTML] Upstream land-use negatively affects river flow dynamics in the Serengeti National Park

ES Kihwele, MP Veldhuis, A Loishooki… - Ecohydrology & …, 2021 - Elsevier
Abstract In the Greater Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, with the Serengeti National Park (SNP) at
its core, people and wildlife are strongly dependent on water supply that has a strong …

[HTML][HTML] African elephants can detect water from natural and artificial sources via olfactory cues

M Wood, S Chamaillé-Jammes, A Hammerbacher… - Animal Cognition, 2022 - Springer
Water is vital for mammals. Yet, as ephemeral sources can be difficult to find, it raises the
question, how do mammals locate water? Elephants (Loxodonta africana) are water …

[HTML][HTML] Anthropogenic supply of nutrients in a wildlife reserve may compromise conservation success

AJ Abraham, ES Duvall, E Le Roux, A Ganswindt… - Biological …, 2023 - Elsevier
In nutrient-poor wildlife reserves it has become common-practice to provide supplemental
mineral resources for wildlife. Yet, the impacts of anthropogenic mineral supplementation on …

Allometry of sodium requirements and mineral lick use among herbivorous mammals

ES Duvall, BM Griffiths, M Clauss, AJ Abraham - Oikos, 2023 - Wiley Online Library
Sodium (Na) plays a critical role in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. In Na‐poor
regions, plant consumers may experience Na deficiency and adapt by seeking …