Ecology - GCF Resource Library

Ecology Of African Grazing And Browsing Mammals

Africa is the earth’s second largest continent, comprising 20% of its surface. Largely tropical, Africa extends as well into temperate zones to 37°N and 35°S. Eastern and southern Africa display steep elevation gradients due to the prevalence there of volcanic orogeny and rifting (29). Local landscapes are distinguished by substantial geological heterogeneity, dissected land forms, and resultant steep gradients of precipitation and vegetation. The consequent pronounced fragmentation of habitats and sharp juxtaposition of distinct vegetation types, combined with climatic oscillations

View Details + Download

Giraffe: Biology, Behaviour and Conservation – Book Review

According to the preface in this volume, Anne Dagg has been captivated by Giraffa camelopardalis since she was a toddler. This is apparent in her subsequent publications. In 1976, she co-authored, with Bristol Foster, ‘The Giraffe: Its Biology, Behaviour and Ecology’, and in 1982, she updated this book. This was one of two giraffe books I bought many years ago when I was first captivated by the reticulated race of this species. The other was The Book of the Giraffe

View Details + Download

The importance of large prey animals during the Pleistocene and the implications of their extinction on the use of dietary ethnographic analogies

Estimates of the human trophic level and dietary quality during the Paleolithic are the basis for many hypotheses and interpretations regarding human evolution and behavior. We describe an additional factor that could have significantly influenced human evolution and behavior, the availability of large prey animals. Given the importance of large prey and the mounting evidence of the decline in its abundance throughout the Pleistocene, we question the reliability of past reconstructions of the human trophic level that were heavily based

View Details + Download

Giraffa camelopardalis, Giraffe Assessment by: Muller, Z. et al.

Taxonomic Notes: The IUCN SSC Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group (GOSG) currently recognizes a single species, Giraffa camelopardalis. Nine subspecies of Giraffes are currently recognized (Dagg 2014), although some authorities dispute this taxonomic classification (e.g., Groves and Grubb 2011). Several subpopulations of Giraffe, resident in northern Botswana, northwest Zimbabwe, northeastern Namibia and southwestern Zambia, are potentially either G. c. angolensis, or G. c. giraffa but the continued accumulation of information indicates that a future reassessment might be in order. Until

View Details + Download

Using while moving: HCI issues in fieldwork environments

“Using while moving” is the basic ability fieldwork users require of a mobile computer system. These users come from a wide range of backgrounds but have in common an extremely mobile and dynamic workplace. We identify four specific characteristics of this class of users: dynamic user configuration, limited attention capacity, high-speed interaction, and context dependency. A prototype is then presented that was designed to assist fieldworkers in data collection tasks and to explore the HCI design issues involved. The prototype

View Details + Download

Ecology of desert-dwelling giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis in northwestern Namibia

The population size and range of giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis have been greatly reduced in Africa in the past century, resulting in geographical isolation of local populations and some herds surviving at the edge of the species’ preferred range. Numerous factors have contributed to these declines, but historical analysis indicates that habitat loss and fragmentation, human encroachment, disease and poaching are the main threatening processes. These processes can be expected to continue to impact on giraffe populations, particularly as human populations

View Details + Download

Dietary innovations spurred the diversification of ruminants during the Caenozoic

Global climate shifts and ecological flexibility are two major factors that may affect rates of speciation and extinction across clades. Here, we connect past climate to changes in diet and diversification dynamics of ruminant mammals. Using novel versions of Multi-State Speciation and Extinction models, we explore the most likely scenarios for evolutionary transitions among diets in this clade and ask whether ruminant lineages with different feeding styles (browsing, grazing and mixed feeding) underwent differential rates of diversification concomitant with global

View Details + Download

Evolution, Ecology and Biochronology of herbivore associations in Europe during the last 3 million years

A study of the evolution of the herbivore community during the last three million years in Europe is proposed in this paper. The study includes the analysis of evolutionary changes of systematic and ecological structure (taxa diversity, body mass, diet specializations) related both with eco-physiological and environmental factors. Several biochronological phases can be envisioned. The most drastic change in the herbivore community structure coincides with the onset of the global glacial/interglacial cycle. It marks the emergence of the zoogeographical Palearctic

View Details + Download

Ecology of the giraffe in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya

The decrease in woody vegetation in Tsavo National Park has probably had adverse effects on woodland-adapted herbivores, including the giraffe (Girafa camelopardalis). In an ecological study we attempted to assess this species’ density, habitat preference and utilization, and population dynamics, using mainly road strip counts and identification of individual animals. Population structure varied seasonally and locally, indicating differential distribution of sex/age classes. Records on individually known animals suggested an annual mortality rate of c. 10% for adult plus subadult animals.

View Details + Download

The Mammals of Nigeria

Distribution: scattered localities in northern Guinea, Sudan, and Sahel savanna zones; not recorded south of the Niger-Benue rivers in Nigeria (Happold 1969, 1978b) (Map 98). Localities: Benue-Pai river region (Lewis 1955); Chingurme-Duguma GR, Kambari GR (Hall 197 6); Falgoro GR (Henshaw and Child 1972); Lame GR (Hall 1976); Sambisa GR (Hall 1976). Old localities not listed (see Status).

View Details + Download

Search the Article Database: