Plant–Herbivore Interactions
Christina Skarpe
Faculty of Applied Ecology and Agricultural Sciences, Hedmark University College, Norway
Search for more papers by this authorRoger Bergström
Forestry Research Institute of Sweden, Uppsala Science Park, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorShimane Makhabu
Department of Basic Sciences, Botswana College of Agriculture, Botswana
Search for more papers by this authorTuulikki Rooke
Research and Assessment Department, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorHåkan Hytteborn
Department of Plant Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden
Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Search for more papers by this authorKjell Danell
Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorChristina Skarpe
Faculty of Applied Ecology and Agricultural Sciences, Hedmark University College, Norway
Search for more papers by this authorRoger Bergström
Forestry Research Institute of Sweden, Uppsala Science Park, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorShimane Makhabu
Department of Basic Sciences, Botswana College of Agriculture, Botswana
Search for more papers by this authorTuulikki Rooke
Research and Assessment Department, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorHåkan Hytteborn
Department of Plant Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden
Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Search for more papers by this authorKjell Danell
Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorChristina Skarpe
Search for more papers by this authorJohan T. du Toit
Search for more papers by this authorStein R. Moe
Search for more papers by this authorSummary
To a casual observer, the importance of large herbivores for ecosystem structure and dynamics can seem more obvious in African savannas than in many other ecosystems because of their high abundance, diversity and species richness of ungulates. African savannas have also had a long uninterrupted history of mammalian herbivory, leading to the evolution of plant traits adapted to herbivory and to reciprocal traits in herbivores. In nutrient-poor savannas such as those on Kalahari sand in the Chobe National Park, Botswana, elephants, Loxodonta africana, are a main agent creating spatial and temporal variation in the vegetation and ecosystems. Within this framework, elephants and smaller herbivores interact with individual plants and plant populations, exploiting and modifying heterogeneity at many scales. Intermittent grazing in systems of migratory or highly mobile herbivores provides food plants with a recovery period, and could be one reason for the ‘success’ and abundance of many migratory herbivore species.
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