Assessing Distribution Patterns and the Relative Abundance of Reintroduced Large Herbivores in the Limpopo National Park, Mozambique

Dionísio Virgílio Roque,Valério António Macandza,Thomas Göttert,Ulrich Zeller

doi:10.3390/d13100456

Dionísio Virgílio Roque, Valério António Macandza + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/d13100456

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Abstract

This study is the first systematic assessment of large herbivore (LH) communities in Limpopo National Park (LNP) in Mozambique, an area where most LH species were extinct until the early 2000s. We investigate whether LH community parameters are linked with the availability of habitat types or the distance between sampling sites and the origin of LH resettlement. We placed camera traps in five habitat types in resettled and not-resettled areas to compare species richness, relative abundance index, grazers–browsers–mixed feeder and naïve occupancy of 15 LH species. While the richness decreased along the distance gradient of LH resettlement, relative abundance index strongly responded to habitat features. The grazer–browser–mixed feeder ratio oscillated, while from resettled to not-resettled areas, the ratio increased. Most species show a wide distribution range. The associations of most LH community parameters with habitat types rather than distance to initial release, together with the species-specific and guild-specific response patterns of LH, suggest LNP to already be in an intermediate stage of restoration. Our results highlight the importance of post-release monitoring of reintroduced wildlife as a tool to assess the success of ecological restoration initiatives in transboundary conservation areas.

Highlights

Large herbivores (LHs) are one of the components determining the structure, composition and function of ecosystems in African savannas [1,2]
Our results highlight the importance of post-release monitoring of reintroduced wildlife as a tool to assess the success of ecological restoration initiatives in transboundary conservation areas
Our study aims to investigate whether ecological parameters associated with LH communities in Limpopo National Park are explained by (i) the availability of habitat types or (ii) the distance between sampling site and the “origin of LH resettlement”

Summary

Introduction

Large herbivores (LHs) are one of the components determining the structure, composition and function of ecosystems in African savannas [1,2]. In the savannas of Sub-Saharan Africa, wildlife still shares pastoral landscapes with people and livestock [3] As long as this phenomenon persists, these semi-natural habitats progressively become smaller and less available [4,5] and confine the distribution of wildlife to areas that are still safe and suitable. Habitat availability and the quality and quantity of food are determinant in the distribution and abundance of LHs [11,12,13]. Herbivores with smaller body size (≤100 kg) require relatively less forage but of higher nutritional quality, whereas larger herbivores tolerate low quality food, provided that it is of sufficient quantity [19,20,21,22,23]. Pure browsers [e.g., greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis)] select mainly habitats with woody plant forage [30], while mixed feeders [e.g., impala (Aepyceros melampus), nyala (Tragelaphus angasii) and sable antelope (Hippotragus niger)] prefer woodland with minimal undergrowth and low to medium height grasslands [28,31]

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