The impact of elephants on thicket vegetation and other mammals in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Nuttall-Smith, Gareth David

Title: The impact of elephants on thicket vegetation and other mammals in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
Creator: Nuttall-Smith, Gareth David
ThesisAdvisor: Parker, Daniel
Subject: Albany Thicket -- Effect of browsing on
Subject: Elephants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: African elephant populations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Woody plants -- Effect of browsing on -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Animal-plant relationships -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Vegetation monitoring -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: African elephant populations -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: Biotic communities -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Subject: African elephant -- Food
Subject: Vegetation dynamics -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Date: 2019
Type: text
Type: Thesis
Type: Masters
Type: MSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76365
Identifier: vital:30554
Description: African elephants (Loxodonta africana) were absent from large portions of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa for more than 100 years following widespread hunting for ivory. However, recent shifts in land use practices have resulted in the establishment of many private game reserves throughout the region. Some of these reserves have reintroduced elephants, raising management concerns because of the perceived impact that elephants can have on vegetation and the animals that rely on it for resources. My thesis aimed to assess the role of elephants in determining the structure and complexity of the locally important Thicket Biome and how medium and large mammals are affected. I quantified the woody and succulent components of Albany Thicket across nine reserves with elephants between May 2016 and November 2017 using a modified Point-Centre-Quarter method. Camera traps were deployed at each site for the duration of a calendar year to measure the relative abundances of all medium and large mammals at the sites. Across all study sites, climatic conditions (specifically rainfall and temperature) were the primary drivers of woody vegetation structure and diversity. Elephants appeared to have little influence since they were reintroduced at low densities 20 years ago. The associated mammal communities were mostly influenced by the height and basal area coverage of the thicket across the sites. I conclude that because elephant populations have been maintained at relatively low densities across my study sites, negative effects on the thicket vegetation and the associated mammal communities were not observed. In fact, the establishment of private game reserves, even with elephants, present may offer sustainable conservation for the threatened Albany Thicket. However, these elephant populations are still relatively new and changes to the vegetation are likely to be cumulative. Thus, future research should focus on how the vegetation is affected over time. To this end, I recommend the establishment of permanent sampling stations across all reserves with elephants in the Eastern Cape Province.
Format: 135 pages, pdf
Publisher: Rhodes University, Faculty of Science, Zoology and Entomology
Language: English
Rights: Nuttall-Smith, Gareth David

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