Interspecific interference competition at the resource patch scale: do large herbivores spatially avoid elephants...

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Behavioral Ecology
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Interspecific interference competition influences animal foraging and distribution.
• Cryptic interference competition, especially between species, is poorly understood.
• Resource patch use is a key area for observing competitive interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test if smaller African herbivores segregate from larger ones, specifically elephants, at waterholes.
• To investigate fine-scale spatial segregation patterns in a semi-arid ecosystem.
• To understand the costs associated with interference competition in mixed-species groups.

Main Methods:

• Monitoring nine waterholes in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, during a dry, drought year.
• Observing spatial distribution of zebra, kudu, giraffe, and elephant every 15 minutes.
• Developing novel methods for analyzing fine-scale spatial data of herbivore interactions.

Main Results:

• Herbivores initially segregated from elephants at waterholes early in the dry season.
• Elephant use of waterholes increased as the dry season progressed.
• Contrary to expectations, herbivores increasingly aggregated with elephants later in the dry season.

Conclusions:

• Initial segregation suggests avoidance of interference competition costs with elephants.
• Later aggregation indicates a potential trade-off between avoiding competition and accessing critical water resources.
• Resource availability and temporal factors significantly influence interspecific spatial dynamics.