Title Elephants and savanna woodland ecosystems : a study from Chobe National Park, Botswana / edited by Christina Skarpe, Johan T. du Toit and Stein R. Moe

Published Chichester, West Sussex ; Hoboken, NJ : Wiley-Blackwell, 2014

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Description 1 online resource Series Conservation science and practice series ; no. 14 Conservation science and practice series ; no. 14. Contents Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; List of Contributors; Foreword; Preface; Part I The Chobe Ecosystems; Chapter 1 Introduction; References; Chapter 2 The Chobe Environment; Geomorphology; Soils; Climate; Flora and vegetation in the Chobe savanna; The mammal community; Human impact; Closing remarks; References; Chapter 3 Elephant-Mediated Ecosystem Processes in Kalahari-Sand Woodlands; Large herbivore biomass density and the contribution of elephants; How can a dystrophic ecosystem support so many elephants?; An elephant ecosystem Interactions between keystone and foundation species maintain regional biodiversityReferences; Part II The Substrate; Chapter 4 Historical Changes of Vegetation in the Chobe Area; Vegetation in the Chobe area before the decline in elephants; Elephants, germs, livestock and logging; Vegetation changes on the alluvium and on the sand; Elephants and the Chobe woodlands; References; Chapter 5 Vegetation: Between Soils and Herbivores; Habitat types; Plant communities, species diversity and structure of vegetation; Abiotic and biotic variables related to the present vegetation Life-form and species distributionSeed-bank of woody species; Concluding remarks; References; Part III The Agent; Chapter 6 Guns, Ivory and Disease: Past Influences on the Present Status of Botswana's Elephants and their Habitats; Introduction; Pre- and post-colonial hunting of elephants in southern Africa; Disease and ecological transformation: the rinderpest panzootic arrives in 1896; Recovery of Botswana's elephant population in the 20th century; Overview; References; Chapter 7 The Chobe Elephants: One Species, Two Niches; Sexual size-dimorphism and social organization Sex differences in the use of plant partsBrowsing height stratification; Sex differences in the use of food patches; Sexual segregation at the habitat scale; Implications for management and further research; References; Chapter 8 Surface Water and Elephant Ecology: Lessons from a Waterhole-Driven Ecosystem, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe; A brief description of Hwange National Park; Movement patterns reveal the dry-season trade-off between foraging and drinking; Evidence that water defines key-resource areas: population-level processes; Beyond water, habitats and social interactions Surface-water driven management of elephants and savanna ecosystemsAcknowledgements; References; Part IV Controllers; Chapter 9 Soil as Controller of and Responder to Elephant Activity; The soils; Soil as a controller of elephant activities and impact; Soil controls the vegetation; Mammal communities and soil; Soil as a responder to elephant activities; Large herbivores and fire; References; Chapter 10 Impala as Controllers of Elephant-Driven Change within a Savanna Ecosystem; Introduction; Impala and seedlings; Seedling predation across eastern and southern African Summary BLURB TO COME! DO NOT USE TEXT BELOW! The proposed book will be composed of 16 chapters, each written by one lead author and 2-7 additional authors/contributors. The book draws on the results of five years research on the dynamics of an ecosystem where elephant and antelope populations were severely decimated more than a century ago, and then recovered. We show that both the decline and return of elephants caused profound ecosystem perturbations. A heterogeneity framework (Pickett et al. 2003) provides the conceptual structure of the book. Following Pickett et al. (2003) we consider the e Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher Subject Elephants -- Botswana -- Chobe National Park Grassland ecology -- Botswana -- Chobe National Park NATURE -- Animals -- Mammals. SCIENCE -- Life Sciences -- Zoology -- Mammals. Elephants Grassland ecology SUBJECT Chobe National Park (Botswana) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh88005397 Subject Botswana -- Chobe National Park Form Electronic book Author Skarpe, Christina, 1946- editor. Du Toit, Johan T., editor Moe, Stein R., 1960- editor LC no. 2014001119 ISBN 9781118858585 1118858581 9781118858592 111885859X 9781118858615 1118858611 1306639646 9781306639644 0470671769 9780470671764

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