dc.contributor.author |
Boyers, Melinda
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Parrini, Francesca
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Owen‑Smith, Norman
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Erasmus, Barend Frederik Nel
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Hetem, Robyn S.
|
|
dc.date.accessioned |
2022-11-04T08:53:25Z |
|
dc.date.available |
2022-11-04T08:53:25Z |
|
dc.date.issued |
2021-02-18 |
|
dc.description |
DATA AVAILABILITY : The data that support the findings of this study are available in AfriMove repository, www.afrimove.org. |
en_US |
dc.description.abstract |
Southern Africa is expected to experience increased frequency and intensity of droughts through
climate change, which will adversely affect mammalian herbivores. Using bio-loggers, we tested
the expectation that wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), a grazer with high water-dependence,
would be more sensitive to drought conditions than the arid-adapted gemsbok (Oryx gazella
gazella). The study, conducted in the Kalahari, encompassed two hot-dry seasons with similar
ambient temperatures but differing rainfall patterns during the preceding wet season. In the drier
year both ungulates selected similar cooler microclimates, but wildebeest travelled larger distances
than gemsbok, presumably in search of water. Body temperatures in both species reached lower
daily minimums and higher daily maximums in the drier season but daily fluctuations were wider
in wildebeest than in gemsbok. Lower daily minimum body temperatures displayed by wildebeest
suggest that wildebeest were under greater nutritional stress than gemsbok. Moving large distances
when water is scarce may have compromised the energy balance of the water dependent wildebeest,
a trade-off likely to be exacerbated with future climate change. |
en_US |
dc.description.department |
Zoology and Entomology |
en_US |
dc.description.librarian |
am2022 |
en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship |
The National Research Foundation of South Africa, the Centre for African Ecology; and University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Science Research Committee. |
en_US |
dc.description.uri |
https://www.nature.com/srep |
en_US |
dc.identifier.citation |
Boyers, M., Parrini, F., Owen-Smith, N. et al. Contrasting capabilities of two ungulate species to cope with extremes of aridity. Scientific Reports 11, 4216 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83732-w. |
en_US |
dc.identifier.issn |
2045-2322 (online) |
|
dc.identifier.other |
10.1038/s41598-021-83732-w |
|
dc.identifier.uri |
https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/88148 |
|
dc.language.iso |
en |
en_US |
dc.publisher |
Nature Research |
en_US |
dc.rights |
© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License. |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Droughts |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Climate change |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Mammalian herbivores |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Behavioural ecology |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Climate-change ecology |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Physiology |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) |
en_US |
dc.subject |
Gemsbok (Oryx gazella gazella) |
en_US |
dc.title |
Contrasting capabilities of two ungulate species to cope with extremes of aridity |
en_US |
dc.type |
Article |
en_US |