We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Water provision alters wildebeest adaptive habitat selection and resilience in the Central Kalahari.
- Authors
Selebatso, Moses; Bennitt, Emily; Maude, Glyn; Fynn, Richard W. S.
- Abstract
Abstract: Wildlife populations in semi‐arid regions require unrestricted mobility along ecological gradients and across large landscapes to enable adaptive responses to seasonal variability and patchy resources. In the Kalahari region of Botswana, herbivore populations historically depended on seasonal access to the nutrient‐rich Schwelle area in the wet season and to water from the Boteti River during drought periods. Blue wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) have lost access to these key habitats due to fences and encroachment of livestock and humans. We deployed satellite collars onto 10 female wildebeest in the CKGR to examine seasonal movements and habitat selection in relation to the environmental conditions and fragmented ecosystem. Wildebeest favoured open, short‐grass pan habitats in all seasons, probably in response to better forage quality and lower predation risk. The ability to remain in pan habitats during the dry season was a result of artificial water provision. A wildebeest herd that had no artificial water in its home range survived the dry season, whereas those wildebeest that were accustomed to water provision died when their water points failed in the dry season. Thus, water provision altered adaptive behaviour and reduced resilience of the population to the arid environment.
- Subjects
GNUS; ANTELOPES; BOVIDAE; HABITAT selection; ANIMAL ecology; HABITATS
- Publication
African Journal of Ecology, 2018, Vol 56, Issue 2, p225
- ISSN
0141-6707
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/aje.12439