Durant, SM;
Craft, ME;
Foley, C;
Hampson, K;
Lobora, AL;
Msuha, M;
Eblate, E;
... Pettorelli, N; + view all
(2010)
Does size matter? An investigation of habitat use across a carnivore assemblage in the Serengeti, Tanzania.
Journal of Animal Ecology
, 79
(5)
pp. 1012-1022.
10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01717.x.
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Abstract
1. This study utilizes a unique data set covering over 19 000 georeferenced records of species presence collected between 1993 and 2008, to explore the distribution and habitat selectivity of an assemblage of 26 carnivore species in the Serengeti–Ngorongoro landscape in northern Tanzania. 2. Two species, the large-spotted genet and the bushy-tailed mongoose, were documented for the first time within this landscape. Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) was used to examine habitat selectivity for 18 of the 26 carnivore species for which there is sufficient data. Eleven ecogeographical variables (EGVs), such as altitude and habitat type, were used for these analyses. 3. The ENFA demonstrated that species differed in their habitat selectivity, and supported the limited ecological information already available for these species, such as the golden jackals’ preference for grassland and the leopards’ preference for river valleys. 4. Two aggregate scores, marginality and tolerance, are generated by the ENFA, and describe each species’ habitat selectivity in relation to the suite of EGVs. These scores were used to test the hypothesis that smaller species are expected to be more selective than larger species [Science, 1989, 243, 1145]. Two predictions were tested: Marginality should decrease with body mass; and tolerance should increase with body mass. Our study provided no evidence for either prediction. 5. Our results not only support previous analyses of carnivore diet breadth, but also represent a novel approach to the investigation of habitat selection across species assemblages. Our method provides a powerful tool to explore similar questions in other systems and for other taxa.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Does size matter? An investigation of habitat use across a carnivore assemblage in the Serengeti, Tanzania |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01717.x |
| Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01717.x |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript/. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Canidae, carnivore biodiversity, coexistence, East Africa, felidae, habitat use,herpestidae, hyaenidae, macroecology, mustelidae |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1529371 |
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Does size matter? An investigation of habitat use across a carnivore assemblage in the Serengeti, Tanzania. (deposited 24 Apr 2016 13:00)
- Does size matter? An investigation of habitat use across a carnivore assemblage in the Serengeti, Tanzania. (deposited 06 Jun 2017 17:34) [Currently Displayed]
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