Fire and herbivory shape belowground bud banks in a semi-arid African savanna

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
AB Bombo ◽  
F Siebert ◽  
A Fidelis
Keyword(s):  
African Savanna ◽  
Bud Banks ◽  
Semi Arid

scholarly journals Inter-specific variation in bud banks and flowering effort among semi-arid African savanna grasses

2012 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 127-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J. Dalgleish ◽  
J.P. Ott ◽  
M.P. Setshogo ◽  
D.C. Hartnett
Keyword(s):  
African Savanna ◽  
Specific Variation ◽  
Bud Banks ◽  
Semi Arid

The breeding season and diet of Arvicanthis in northern Nigeria

1989 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safianu Rabiu ◽  
Martin Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Northern Nigeria ◽  
East African ◽  
African Savanna ◽  
Seasonal Differences ◽  
Sudan Savanna ◽  
Semi Arid

ABSTRACTThe breeding season and diet of the rat Arvicanthis was monitored from December 1983 to November 1985 in the semi-arid Sudan savanna at Kano, Nigeria, West Africa. Breeding began 1–2 months before the start of the rainy season and ceased at the beginning of the dry season. The diet of Arvicanthis was omnivorous, but with seasonal differences. Monocotyledons and dicotyledons predominated in the diet in the dry season, with seeds and insects increasing in the diet in the rainy season. The major differences between the ecology of Arvicanthis at Kano and on the East African savanna were that in East Africa the breeding season is longer and begins after the start of the rainy season. These and other dissimilarities between the biology of Arvicanthis in the two areas could be due to the effect of climatic differences on food supply and to the possible existence of different taxonomic groupings of Arvicanthis in the two regions.

scholarly journals Resilience in Diet-quality Strategies of Mixed Native and Non-native Herbivore Communities in Semi-arid and Sub-humid Savanna Ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stoklasová Lucie ◽  
Pavla Hejcmanová
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Diet Quality ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
African Savanna ◽  
Ecosystem Shift ◽  
Ecological Functionality ◽  
Humid Savanna ◽  
Ecosystem Changes ◽  
Semi Arid

Abstract The global climate change processes are expected to impact African savanna ecosystems in their ecological functionality and availability of food resources for herbivores. To understand the feeding responses of large savanna herbivores placed to space-constrained and two environmentally distinct (semi-arid versus sub-humid savanna) conditions, we investigated the diet quality of five species living in a mixed community of species native and non-native for the West African savanna and compared them between the two sites as a proxy for a potential ecosystem shift due to climate change. Grazers and mixed feeders maintained diet quality in most nutrients at similar levels, while browser’s diet had lower nitrogen and fibres, specifically lignin, and more calcium in semi-arid savanna. Our findings suggest that adaptation to different ecosystems with no possibility to leave the area required changes in feeding behaviour across feeding types to maintain diet quality, especially mixed feeders escaped the competition with zebras for grasses in sub-humid savanna by switching to browse. Pure browser experienced reduced diet quality in drier environment and may potentially become susceptible to ecosystem changes. Conservation strategies should facilitate both, animals’ adequate behavioural responses together with nutritional resilience in changing savanna landscapes.

Effect of Vachellia tortilis on understory vegetation, herbaceous biomass and soil nutrients along a grazing gradient in a semi-arid African savanna

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1601-1609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Temesgen Yadeta ◽  
Elmar Veenendaal ◽  
Karle Sykora ◽  
Zewdu K. Tessema ◽  
Addisu Asefa
Keyword(s):  
Soil Nutrients ◽  
Understory Vegetation ◽  
African Savanna ◽  
Herbaceous Biomass ◽  
Semi Arid
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