Social dominance,seasonal movements,and spatial segregation in African elephants: a contribution to conservation behavior |
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Authors: | G Wittemyer W M Getz F Vollrath I Douglas-Hamilton |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California at Berkeley, 201 Wellman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3112, USA;(2) Save the Elephants, P.O. Box 54667, Nairobi, Kenya;(3) Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa;(4) Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK;(5) Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California at Berkeley, 137 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3112, USA |
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Abstract: | The structure of dominance relationships among individuals in a population is known to influence their fitness, access to
resources, risk of predation, and even energy budgets. Recent advances in global positioning system radio telemetry provide
data to evaluate the influence of social relationships on population spatial structure and ranging tactics. Using current
models of socio-ecology as a framework, we explore the spatial behaviors relating to the maintenance of transitive (i.e.,
linear) dominance hierarchies between elephant social groups despite the infrequent occurrence of contests over resources
and lack of territorial behavior. Data collected from seven families of different rank demonstrate that dominant groups disproportionately
use preferred habitats, limit their exposure to predation/conflict with humans by avoiding unprotected areas, and expend less
energy than subordinate groups during the dry season. Hence, our data provide strong evidence of rank derived spatial partitioning
in this migratory species. These behaviors, however, were not found during the wet season, indicating that spatial segregation
of elephants is related to resource availability. Our results indicate the importance of protecting preexisting social mechanisms
for mitigating the ecological impacts of high density in this species. This analysis provides an exemplar of how behavioral
research in a socio-ecological framework can serve to identify factors salient to the persistence and management of at risk
species or populations.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. |
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Keywords: | Animal movement Spatial organization Dominance |
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