Resource partitioning among African savanna herbivores in North Cameroon: the importance of diet composition, food quality and body mass

• Published in: Journal of tropical ecology Vol. 27; no. 5; pp. 503 - 513
• Main Authors: de Iongh, H. H., de Jong, C. B., van Goethem, J., Klop, E., Brunsting, A. M. H., Loth, P. E., Prins, H. H. T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.09.2011
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Aquatic mammals; benoue national-park; Biological and medical sciences; Body mass; Correlation analysis; Diet; Dry season; Dry seasons; Dung; Epidermis; facilitation; Feces; Food; Food chains; Food plants; Food quality; Food resources; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Grasses; grazing herbivores; Herbivores; hippopotamidae; Hippopotamus; microhistological analysis; Niche breadth; Niche differentiation; Nitrogen; Nutritional adequacy; nutritional ecology; postfire regrowth; Rainy season; Rainy seasons; Resource partitioning; ruminants; Savannahs; Seasons; segregation; size; Synecology; Terrestrial ecosystems; Zebu; Africa; savanna ecosystems; competition; faecal analysis; herbivores; ungulates; dietary overlap

The relationship between herbivore diet quality, and diet composition (the range of food plants consumed) and body mass on resource partitioning of herbivores remains the subject of an ongoing scientific debate. In this study we investigated the importance of diet composition and diet quality on res...