Habitat preferences of the secretive forest buffalo (<i>Syncerus caffer nanus</i>) in Central Africa

Melletti, Mario; Penteriani, Vincenzo; Boitani, Luigi

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00196.x

Cited by 29 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…It is therefore reasonable to expect buffalo to range more widely in search of graze in areas with lower amounts of concentrated forage, as with Serengeti grazers that track changes in the spatial distribution of grass ). The strong positive coefficient associated with percent tree cover supports this interpretation, and other studies on buffalo home range size and habitat associations have found preferences for open grassy areas, even among the forest-dwelling buffalo of central Africa (Sinclair 1977;Melletti et al 2007).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Factors affecting intraspecific variation in home range size of a large African herbivore

et al. 2012

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Factors affecting intraspecific variation in home range size have rarely been examined using modern statistical and remote sensing methods. This is especially true for animals in seasonal savanna environments in Africa, despite this biome's importance for both conservation and development goals. We studied the impacts of spatial and temporal variability in environmental conditions, along with individual and social factors, on home range sizes in African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in northeastern Namibia. Our data set spans 4 years, is derived from 32 satellite tracking collars, and contains over 35,000 GPS locations. We used the local convex hull method to estimate home range size from 31 buffalo captured at 6 sites. We used a variety of remotely sensed data to characterize potential anthropogenic and natural boundaries, as well as seasonal and temporal heterogeneity in environmental conditions. Using an information-theoretic, mixed effects approach, our analyses showed that home ranges varied over two orders of magnitude and are among the largest recorded for this species. Variables relating to vegetation and habitat boundaries were more important than abiotic environmental conditions and individual or social factors in explaining variation in home range size. The relative contributions of environmental, individual, social, and linear boundary variables to intraspecific home range size have rarely been examined and prior to this had not been assessed for any species in seasonal savannas of Africa. Understanding the factors that condition spaceuse patterns of wildlife in this area will lead to betterinformed conservation and sustainable development decisions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Factors affecting intraspecific variation in home range size of a large African herbivore

et al. 2012

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“…Analysis of home range areas indicated a positive relationship between both maximum group size and mean group size of forest buffalo with home range area and the amount of open habitat, where food resources are abundant, in the home range area. This could be tested at other forested sites in the region, where food resources are limited to clearings within the forest landscape (Blake, 2002; Melletti et al ., 2007). Based on results from radiocollared buffalo at Lopé NP, large group size would be expected for herds that used the largest forest clearings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cape buffalo at 400–800 kg are larger than forest buffalo, occur throughout the savanna areas of eastern and southern Africa (Sinclair, 1977; Haltenorth & Diller, 1980) and have a mean group size of 350 (range 12 to more than 1500; Sinclair, 1977; Prins, 1996). Cape buffalo have been the focus of several comprehensive studies (Sinclair, 1977; Mloszewski, 1983; Prins, 1996); only a few studies have been carried out on forest buffalo and the results of those studies are limited by small sample sizes (Abernethy, 1998, 1999, 2000; Melletti, Penteriani & Boitani, 2007; Melletti et al ., 2007) and short study periods (≤6 months; Alers & Blom, 1988; Molloy, 1997). The smaller forest‐dwelling S. caffer nanus (250–320 kg) is found in the forests of central Africa (Sinclair, 1977; Haltenorth & Diller, 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation of group size among African buffalo herds in a forest‐savanna mosaic landscape

Körte

2008

Journal of Zoology

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Documenting within species group size variation is important to completely understand social organization within species and to interpret variation among species. Here, I investigated group size of African buffalo Syncerus caffer over 2 years in a heterogeneous landscape. African buffalo use closed continuous forest and vast open savannas, and anecdotal observations suggest that habitat type influences their social structure. While the Cape buffalo Syncerus caffer caffer is well studied, few data exist for the forest-dwelling Syncerus caffer nanus. I observed forest buffalo at Lope´National Park, Gabon, and examined variation of group size. Eighteen forest buffalo herds used the study area with an estimated population of 342 individuals ($5 buffalo km À2 ). The mean group size for the 18 herds was 12 AE 2 (range of means= 3-24), considerably smaller than Cape buffalo herds. For eight radiocollared forest buffalo, the mean group size was stable, varying little with time of day, across seasons, or between savanna and marsh habitat. However, herd size varied widely across herds, from fewer than 10 individuals in the smallest herds to more than 20 buffalo in the largest. Large herd size is associated with home ranges that contain substantial areas of open habitat, and thus more food resources than forested habitats.

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“…simply corresponding to buffalo that changed position during the night). During the study period the herd size grew from 16 to 24 individuals (Melletti et al 2007b).…”

Section: Study Area and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To the best of our knowledge, the investigation reported here is the first to take into account spatial aggregation patterns in the forest buffalo. We have studied a herd of buffaloes (for more details, see Melletti et al 2007b;Korte 2008a;Melletti 2008) with the aim of exploring social behaviour when the herd was resting in the forest or in open habitats (i.e. clearings) during the wet and dry seasons, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial properties of a forest buffalo herd and individual positioning as a response to environmental cues and social behaviour

Melletti

Delgado

Penteriani

et al. 2010

J Ethol

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Many animals aggregate into organized temporary or stable groups under the influence of biotic and abiotic factors, and some studies have shown the influence of habitat features on animal aggregation. This study, conducted from 2002 to 2004 in the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Central African Republic, studied a herd of forest buffaloes (Syncerus caffer nanus) to determine whether spatial aggregation patterns varied by season and habitat. Our results show that both habitat structure and season influenced spatial aggregation patterns. In particular, in open habitats such as clearings, the group covered a larger area when resting and was more rounded in shape compared to group properties noted in forest during the wet season. Moreover, forest buffaloes had a more aggregated spatial distribution when resting in clearings than when in the forest, and individual positions within the herd in the clearing habitat varied with age and sex. In the clearings, the adult male (n = 24) was generally, on most occasions, located in the centre of the herd (n = 20), and he was observed at the border only four times. In contrast, females (n = 80) occupied intermediate (n = 57), peripheral (n = 14) and central positions (n = 9) within the group. Juveniles (n = 77) also occurred in intermediate (n = 64) and peripheral positions (n = 13). Based on these results, we concluded that habitat characteristics and social behaviour can have relevant effects on the spatial distribution of animals within a group

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Habitat preferences of the secretive forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus) in Central Africa

Cited by 29 publications

References 21 publications

Factors affecting intraspecific variation in home range size of a large African herbivore

Factors affecting intraspecific variation in home range size of a large African herbivore

Variation of group size among African buffalo herds in a forest‐savanna mosaic landscape

Spatial properties of a forest buffalo herd and individual positioning as a response to environmental cues and social behaviour

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