Community-level interactions between ungulate browsers and woody plants in an African savanna dominated by palatable-spinescent Acacia trees
We studied the composition of a savanna woody plant community across a natural herbivory gradient maintained by both browsing and grazing ungulates in an arid part of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. We focused on (1) short-term browsing effects on reproductive and morphological traits of a dominant-palatable woody species, Acacia nigrescens, Miller, (2) the relationship between browsing–grazing intensity and soil parameters, (3) the effects of herbivore–soil interactions on woody species richness and composition, and (4) browser-induced effects on the