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Chapter 10 - Niche Distinctions: Resources Versus Risks

from Part III - The Big Mammal Menagerie: Herbivores, Carnivores and Their Ecosystem Impacts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2021

Norman Owen-Smith
Norman Owen-Smith
Affiliation:
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
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Summary

This chapter outlines niche separation among African savanna herbivores, particularly among grazers of similar body size. Trophic niche differences are related to dentition and digestive anatomy. Browsers are restricted by seasonal food availability while hindgut fermenters tolerate higher dietary fibre than foregut ferments or ruminants. Grazers shift seasonally among grassland types while browsers shift between palatability classes of woody plants. Vegetation components may function as quality, staple, reserve or buffer resources. Sodium is essentially needed.Grass height preferences are not tightly dependent on body size. Body size determines food quality required for metabolic maintenance. Ungulates also vary in their tolerance of heat and cold extremes and in surface water requirements. Security from predations can have an overriding influence on spatial partitioning. The unique feature of Africa’s large herbivore fauna is the predominance of medium–large ruminants.

Keywords

dietary distinctionsforegut versus hindgut fermentersdietary categorieskey resource areasfallback foodsbuffer resourcessodium needsmetabolic requirements;security from predation.
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Chapter
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Only in Africa
The Ecology of Human Evolution
 , pp. 145 - 169
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Suggested Further Reading

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Owen-Smith, N. (2002) Adaptive Herbivore Ecology. From Resources to Populations in Variable Environments. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar

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