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Effect of high population density of eastern black rhinoceros, a mega-browser, on the quality of its diet
African Journal of Ecology ( IF 1 ) Pub Date : 2021-05-30 , DOI: 10.1111/aje.12893
Benson Okita‐Ouma 1, 2, 3 , Richard Pettifor 4 , Marcus Clauss 5 , Herbert H. T. Prins 6
Affiliation  

High density of herbivore populations can lead to intense foraging competition and depletion of food consequently lowering diet quality and population performance. We tested for the effects of the density of eastern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) in nine in situ populations of 0.01–0.7 individuals per km2 density range on the quality of their diet while controlling for plant available moisture and plant available nutrients. We used faecal calcium, phosphorus, copper and zinc concentrations as proxy indices for dietary quality from 473 fresh faecal samples obtained from 77 adult animals in situ, after determining a positive faeces-diet mineral correlation in feeding trials with black rhinoceros in zoos. Some populations surpassed 70%–80% of their estimated maximum stocking densities expected to cause impact on forage. However, we did not find significant correlation between rhino population density and dietary quality, as measured via faecal mineral nutrient content. This suggests that black rhinoceros may have sufficient behavioural plasticity to adjust their diet to cover their nutritional requirements when density increases. Instead, 1-month lagged plant available moisture, reflecting precipitation over the 4 weeks preceding each sampling effort, significantly explained the mineral concentrations in the faeces. By contrast, plant available nutrients had no effect.

中文翻译:

大型浏览器东部黑犀牛的高种群密度对其饮食质量的影响

高密度的食草动物种群会导致激烈的觅食竞争和食物枯竭,从而降低饮食质量和种群表现。我们测试了东部黑犀牛 ( Diceros bicornis michaeli ) 的密度对 9个每平方公里2密度范围为 0.01-0.7 个体的原地种群的密度对其饮食质量的影响,同时控制植物有效水分和植物有效养分。我们使用粪便钙、磷、铜和锌浓度作为从 77 只成年动物原位获得的 473 份新鲜粪便样本的膳食质量的代理指标,在动物园用黑犀牛的喂养试验中确定了粪便-饮食矿物质的正相关性之后。一些种群超过了预计对草料造成影响的估计最大放养密度的 70%–80%。然而,我们没有发现犀牛种群密度和饮食质量之间存在显着相关性,通过粪便矿物质营养含量来衡量。这表明黑犀牛可能具有足够的行为可塑性,可以在密度增加时调整它们的饮食以满足其营养需求。相反,滞后 1 个月的植物可用水分反映了每次采样工作前 4 周的降水,显着解释了粪便中的矿物质浓度。相比之下,植物有效养分没有影响。
更新日期:2021-05-30
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