Afrotropical forests host many of the world’s remaining megafauna, but even here they are confined to areas where direct human influences are low. We use a rare long-term dataset of tree reproduction and a photographic database of forest elephants to assess food availability and body condition of an emblematic megafauna species at Lopé National Park, Gabon. We show an 81% decline in fruiting over a 32-year period (1986-2018) and an 11% decline in body condition of fruit-dependent forest elephants from 2008-2018. Fruit famine in one of the last strongholds for African forest elephants should raise concern for the ability of this species and other fruit-dependent megafauna to persist in the long-term, with consequences for broader ecosystem and biosphere functioning.

For animal species with dynamic interactions, understanding social patterns can be difficult. Social network analysis quantifies associations and their intensity between individuals within a population, revealing the overall patterns of the society. We used networks to test the hypothesis that the elusive African forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis exhibits fission−fusion social dynamics, similar to other elephant species. We observed associations between individuals in savanna clearings in Lopé National Park, Gabon, in 2006Gabon, in , 2008Gabon, in , and 2010. When possible, dung was collected from individuals for genetic analyses using 10 microsatellite loci and the mitochondrial DNA control region. Using simple ratio association indices, networks were created for each year, wet and dry seasons, individuals detected at least twice, and for all females. We identified 118 unique adult females, for 40 of which we obtained genetic information. N etworks had low densities, many disconnected components, short average path lengths, and high clustering coefficients. Within components, average relatedness was 0.093 ± 0.071 (SD) and females appeared to share mitochondrial haplotypes. We detected 1 large component consisting of 22 adult females, but there were few preferred associations (8 of 65, 12.3%). No seasonal or yearly differences were observed. Our results substantiate fission−fusion dynamics in forest elephants; however, the networks are more disconnected than those for other elephant species, possibly due to poaching and ecological constraints in the forest environment. KEY WORDS: Social networks · Social structure · Loxodonta cyclotis · Fission−fusion · Elephants Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherEndang Species Res 25: [165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172][173] 2014 can be quantified and visualized (Croft et al. 2008, Wey et al. 2008, Sih et al. 2009, Croft et al. 2011. We used network analysis to elucidate the social structure of the African forest elephant Loxondonta cyclotis, an elusive species thought to have fission−fusion dynamics.Two species of African elephant are recognized: savanna and forest (Rohland et al. 2010). In savanna elephants, related females form family groups that repeatedly join and separate from other groups (Moss 1988, Wittemyer et al. 2005, Archie et al. 2006. Family groups are important for fitness. Females rear young as a group (Lee 1987), and intact groups are more effective at forming defensive postures in response to playback calls from lions (McComb et al. 2011). The oldest member, the matriarch, retains knowledge about the landscape important for the group's survival (McComb et al. 2001). In poached populations, where social structure is disrupted, groups have lower reproductive output and higher stress levels (Gobush et al. 2008), with potentially long-term negative consequences for decisionmaking abilities (Shannon et al. 2013).Less is known about forest elephant social structure, as their dense and remote habitat m...