Abstract
In some African protected areas, concerns have arisen about the influence of locally high elephant numbers on other forms of biodiversity. In arid and semi-arid savannas, surface-water resources are scarce and agonistic interactions between elephants and other herbivores have been reported at waterholes, yet surprisingly very little is known about the impact of elephants on the use of waterholes by other herbivores. Here, we test whether when there are elephants at a waterhole, other herbivores (1) do not change their drinking behaviour; (2) spend shorter time around the water because they are disturbed by elephants’ presence and consequently have to leave the waterhole area probably without having met their water requirements, or (3) spend more time around the water probably owing to an increase in vigilance activities or because the presence of elephants may signal safety from predators. Results show that all species spend longer time around water when there are elephants at the waterhole, although the difference is not large. Consequently, this study strongly suggests that elephants do not prevent other herbivores from drinking (time at waterholes is not shortened when elephants are around). Further, if the additional time spent to drink is linked to an increased vigilance, the difference is not large, and hence unlikely to affect the population dynamics of other herbivores.
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Acknowledgments
The Director General of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority is acknowledged for providing the opportunity to carry out this research and for permission to publish this manuscript. Marion Valeix was supported by a PhD grant from the French “Ministère de la Recherche” through the “Ecole Doctorale Diversité du Vivant” of “Université Pierre et Marie Curie”. This research was carried out within the framework of the HERD project (Hwange Environmental Research Development), funded by the French Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, the Ambassade de France au Zimbabwe, the CIRAD, the CNRS, the IFB “Global Change and Biodiversity”, and the ANR Biodiversité “BioFun project” ANR-05-BDIV-013-01. We thank Marie-Noël de Visscher, William Eldridge, Donna Robertson and three anonymous referees for their fruitful comments on previous drafts. Special thanks go to the rangers, students and volunteers who participated in the waterhole monitoring.
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Valeix, M., Fritz, H., Canévet, V. et al. Do elephants prevent other African herbivores from using waterholes in the dry season?. Biodivers Conserv 18, 569–576 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9523-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9523-0