Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T19:28:53.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fruit production by Acacia albida trees in Zambezi riverine woodlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Kevin M. Dunham
Kevin M. Dunham
Affiliation:
Mana Pools National Park, Private Bag 2061, Karoi, Zimbabwe
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Fruit production by Acacia albida (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) trees in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, was monitored over eight years. Timing of ripe fruit-fall varied between years, as did fruit production: production of ripe fruits by the same tree varied from 5.4 kg in 1983 to 290.1 kg in 1988. Baboons reduced fruit production by feeding on unripe fruits and the mass eaten each year was negatively correlated with rainfall. Potential fruit production (i.e. production in the absence of baboons) was high when the late wet season was wet or cool and when fruit production in the previous year was low. Late wet season rainfall and temperature probably determined the degree of defoliation by caterpillars: in 1983 and 1987, when the late wet season was hot and dry, the trees were almost completely defoliated. During the late dry season, A. albida fruits were an important component of the diets of waterbuck, eland, elephant, buffalo and kudu; they were seldom eaten by hippopotamus and were ignored by zebra and warthog.

Keywords

Acacia albidafruitsproductionZambezi
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , November 1990 , pp. 445 - 457
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Bennett, J. G, Anderson, I. & Brinn, P. J. 1985. The soils of Mana Pools National Park. Soils Report A517. Chemistry and Soil Research Institute, Zimbabwe. 58 pp.Google Scholar
Cissé, M. I. 1980. The browse production of some trees of the Sahel: relationships between maximum foliage biomass and various physical parameters. Pp. 205–210 in Le Houérou, H. N. (ed.). Browse in Africa. The current state of knowledge. ILCA, Addis Ababa.Google Scholar
Coe, M. & Coe, C. 1987. Large herbivores, acacia trees and bruchid beetles. South African Journal of Science 83:624–635.Google Scholar
Dunham, K. M. 1980. The diet of impala in the Sengwa Wildlife Research Area, Rhodesia. Journal of Zoology, London 192:41–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunham, K. M. 1989a. Litterfall, nutrient-fall and production in an Acacia albida woodland in Zimbabwe. Journal of Tropical Ecology 5:227–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunham, K. M. 1989b. Vegetation-environment relations of a Middle Zambezi floodplain. Vegetatio 82:13–24.Google Scholar
Dunham, K. M. 1989c. Longterm changes in Zambezi riparian woodlands, as revealed by photopano-ramas. African Journal of Ecology 27:263–275.Google Scholar
Felker, P. 1978. State of the art: Acacia albida as a complementary permanent intercrop with annual crops. University of California, Riverside, California. 133 pp.Google Scholar
Harper, J. L. 1977. Population biology of plants. Academic Press, London. 892 pp.Google Scholar
Hofmann, R. R. 1973. The ruminant stomach. East African Literature Bureau, Nairobi. 354 pp.Google Scholar
Jarman, P. J. 1972. Seasonal distribution of large mammal populations in the unflooded Middle Zambezi Valley. Journal of Applied Ecology 9:283–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarman, P.J. 1976. Damage to Acacia tortilis seeds eaten by impala. East African Wildlife Journal 14:223–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, G. 1969. Cycles biogéochimiques dans un écosystème de région tropicale séche Acacia albida (Del.) sol ferrugineux tropical peu lessivé (DIOR). Oecologia Plantarum 4:195–210.Google Scholar
Le Houerou, H. N. 1980. The role of browse in the Sahelian and Sudanian zones. Pp. 83–100 in Le Houérou, H. N. (ed.). Browse in Africa. The current state of knowledge. ILCA, Addis Ababa.Google Scholar
Lepape, M-C. 1980. Browse in the Cape Verde Islands. Pp. 123–125 in Le Houérou, H. N. (ed.). Browse in Africa. The current state of knowledge. ILCA, Addis Ababa.Google Scholar
Mattson, W. J. & Haack, R. A. 1987. The role of drought in outbreaks of plant-eating insects. Bio-science 37:110–118.Google Scholar
Rothery, P. 1988. A cautionary note on data transformation: bias in back-transformed means. Bird Study 35:219–222.Google Scholar
Sokal, R. R. & Rohlf, F.J. 1981. Biometry. W. H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco. 859 pp.Google Scholar
Wickens, G. E. 1969. A study of Acacia albida Del. (Mimosoideae). Kew Bulletin 23:181–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wrangham, R. W. & Waterman, P. G. 1981. Feeding behaviour of Vervet monkeys on Acacia tortilis and Acacia xanthophloea with special reference to reproductive strategies and tannin production. Journal of Animal Ecology 50:715–731.Google Scholar