Why do elephants damage savanna trees?
| dc.contributor.author | Midgley, J J | |
| dc.contributor.author | Balfour, D | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kerley, G I | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-03-31T07:07:44Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-03-31T07:07:44Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2005 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2016-01-04T10:32:14Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Elephants damage and kill trees. THIS behaviour often appears to be excessive because their immediate, subsequent consumption of edible parts of these trees is often negligible. Some trees later resprout after snapping and toppling by elephants and thus produce forage at the animals’ preferred feeding-height. We argue that this and other ‘farming’ hypotheses are group-selectionist and are thus not evolutionarily stable strategies. We suggest that excessive damage to trees is more likely to be due to social or sexual factors. More behavioural analyses and experiments are needed to understand this phenomenon and its implications for conservation | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Midgley, J. J., Balfour, D., & Kerley, G. I. (2005). Why do elephants damage savanna trees?. <i>South African Journal of Science</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24120 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Midgley, J J, D Balfour, and G I Kerley "Why do elephants damage savanna trees?." <i>South African Journal of Science</i> (2005) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24120 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Midgley, J. J., Balfour, D., & Kerley, G. I. (2005). Why do elephants damage savanna trees?: commentary. South African Journal of Science, 101(5 & 6), p-213. | |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - AU - Midgley, J J AU - Balfour, D AU - Kerley, G I AB - Elephants damage and kill trees. THIS behaviour often appears to be excessive because their immediate, subsequent consumption of edible parts of these trees is often negligible. Some trees later resprout after snapping and toppling by elephants and thus produce forage at the animals’ preferred feeding-height. We argue that this and other ‘farming’ hypotheses are group-selectionist and are thus not evolutionarily stable strategies. We suggest that excessive damage to trees is more likely to be due to social or sexual factors. More behavioural analyses and experiments are needed to understand this phenomenon and its implications for conservation DA - 2005 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - South African Journal of Science LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2005 T1 - Why do elephants damage savanna trees? TI - Why do elephants damage savanna trees? UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24120 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24120 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Midgley JJ, Balfour D, Kerley GI. Why do elephants damage savanna trees?. South African Journal of Science. 2005; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24120. | en_ZA |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher.department | Department of Biological Sciences | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Science | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Cape Town | |
| dc.source | South African Journal of Science | |
| dc.source.uri | http://www.sajs.co.za/ | |
| dc.title | Why do elephants damage savanna trees? | |
| dc.type | Journal Article | |
| uct.type.filetype | Text | |
| uct.type.filetype | Image |