Elephants and savanna woodland ecosystems : a study from Chobe National Park, Botswana / edited by Christina Skarpe, Johan T. du Toit and Stein R. Moe.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; List of Contributors; Foreword; Preface; Part I The Chobe Ecosystems; Chapter 1 Introduction; References; Chapter 2 The Chobe Environment; Geomorphology; Soils; Climate; Flora and vegetation in the Chobe savanna; The mammal community; Human impact; Closing remarks; References; Chapter 3 Elephant-Mediated Ecosystem Processes in Kalahari-Sand Woodlands; Large herbivore biomass density and the contribution of elephants; How can a dystrophic ecosystem support so many elephants?; An elephant ecosystem.

Interactions between keystone and foundation species maintain regional biodiversityReferences; Part II The Substrate; Chapter 4 Historical Changes of Vegetation in the Chobe Area; Vegetation in the Chobe area before the decline in elephants; Elephants, germs, livestock and logging; Vegetation changes on the alluvium and on the sand; Elephants and the Chobe woodlands; References; Chapter 5 Vegetation: Between Soils and Herbivores; Habitat types; Plant communities, species diversity and structure of vegetation; Abiotic and biotic variables related to the present vegetation.

Life-form and species distributionSeed-bank of woody species; Concluding remarks; References; Part III The Agent; Chapter 6 Guns, Ivory and Disease: Past Influences on the Present Status of Botswana's Elephants and their Habitats; Introduction; Pre- and post-colonial hunting of elephants in southern Africa; Disease and ecological transformation: the rinderpest panzootic arrives in 1896; Recovery of Botswana's elephant population in the 20th century; Overview; References; Chapter 7 The Chobe Elephants: One Species, Two Niches; Sexual size-dimorphism and social organization.

Sex differences in the use of plant partsBrowsing height stratification; Sex differences in the use of food patches; Sexual segregation at the habitat scale; Implications for management and further research; References; Chapter 8 Surface Water and Elephant Ecology: Lessons from a Waterhole-Driven Ecosystem, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe; A brief description of Hwange National Park; Movement patterns reveal the dry-season trade-off between foraging and drinking; Evidence that water defines key-resource areas: population-level processes; Beyond water, habitats and social interactions.

Surface-water driven management of elephants and savanna ecosystemsAcknowledgements; References; Part IV Controllers; Chapter 9 Soil as Controller of and Responder to Elephant Activity; The soils; Soil as a controller of elephant activities and impact; Soil controls the vegetation; Mammal communities and soil; Soil as a responder to elephant activities; Large herbivores and fire; References; Chapter 10 Impala as Controllers of Elephant-Driven Change within a Savanna Ecosystem; Introduction; Impala and seedlings; Seedling predation across eastern and southern African.