Effects of mountain gorilla foraging activities on the productivity of their food plant species
dc.contributor.author | Watts, David P. | en_US |
dc.date.accessioned | 2010-06-01T22:09:01Z | |
dc.date.available | 2010-06-01T22:09:01Z | |
dc.date.issued | 1987-09 | en_US |
dc.identifier.citation | WATTS, D. P. (1987). "Effects of mountain gorilla foraging activities on the productivity of their food plant species." African Journal of Ecology 25(3): 155-163. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/75171> | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 0141-6707 | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 1365-2028 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/75171 | |
dc.description.abstract | Mountain gorillas subsist principally on foliage from the dense herbaceous understorey that is found throughout most of their habitat in the Virunga Volcanoes region. Their foraging activities cause considerable structural damage to this vegetation. Those plant species that are quantitatively most important in the gorillas' diet respond to this damage by increasing primary productivity. At a sample of spots at which gorillas had fed, these species showed significantly higher growth rates over a 6-month interval than they did at nearby spots that had not been touched by the gorillas. Stem densities of herbaceous food species at feeding spots increased markedly both in comparison to their original values and to values for the same species at untouched spots. As a result, spots at which gorillas have fed are likely to become very attractive as future feeding spots. It is unlikely that gorillas ‘manage’ their habitat in any specific fashion, largely because they do not have exclusive use of their home ranges. Their activities appear to maintain habitat productivity over the short term, on a time scale relevant to patterns of area revisits by social groups, and may contribute to long term beneficial alterations of regularly used areas, however. Effects of the type reported here may have been an important aspect of the adaptation by gorillas to terrestrial folivory. RÉSUMEÉ Les gorilles de montagne s'alimentent principalement de feuillages dans le sous-bois herbacÉ dense prÉsent presque partout dans leur habitat de la rÉgion des volcans Virunga. Leurs activitÉs alimentaires causent des dommages structurels considÉrables À cette vÉgÉtation. Les plantes des espÈces qui sont quantitativement les plus importants dans le rÉgime du gorille rÉagissent À ces dÉgats en augmentant leur productivitÉ primaire. Aux postes Échantillons oÙ les gorilles se sont nourris, ces espÈces prÉsentent des taux de croissance significantivement supÉrieurs sur un intervalle de six mois, par rapport aux postes voisins qui n'ont pas ÉtÉ touchÉs par les gorilles. Les densitÉs de tiges des espÈces herbacÉes appÉtÉes aux postes de nourrissage augmentent nettement aussi bien en comparaison avec leurs valeurs antÉrieures qu'avec celles de ces měmes espÈces dans des stations non touchÉes. En consÉquence, les postes oÙ les gorilles se sont nourris ont plus de chance de devenir des futurs postes de nourrissage trÈs attractifs. Il est peu probable que les gorilles ‘gÈrent’ leur habitat d'une quelconque faÇon, surtout parce qu'ils n'ont pas l'utilisation exclusive de leur domaine vital. Leurs activitÉs semblent maintenir À court terme la productivitÉ de leur habitat, sur une Échelle de temps comprenant les visites successives de groupes sociaux, et peuvent contribuer À long terme À des altÉrations bÉnÉfiques pour ces zones rÉguliÉrement frÉquentÉes. Des effets du type rapportÉ ici peuvent avoir ÉtÉ un ÉlÉment important de l'adaptation des gorilles À la folivorie terrestre. | en_US |
dc.format.extent | 650197 bytes | |
dc.format.extent | 3109 bytes | |
dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
dc.format.mimetype | text/plain | |
dc.publisher | Blackwell Publishing Ltd | en_US |
dc.rights | 1987 Blackwell Publishing Ltd | en_US |
dc.title | Effects of mountain gorilla foraging activities on the productivity of their food plant species | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |
dc.subject.hlbsecondlevel | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | en_US |
dc.subject.hlbtoplevel | Science | en_US |
dc.description.peerreviewed | Peer Reviewed | en_US |
dc.contributor.affiliationum | Department of Anthropology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, U. S. A. | en_US |
dc.description.bitstreamurl | http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75171/1/j.1365-2028.1987.tb01102.x.pdf | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1111/j.1365-2028.1987.tb01102.x | en_US |
dc.identifier.source | African Journal of Ecology | en_US |
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dc.owningcollname | Interdisciplinary and Peer-Reviewed |
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