Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T02:47:55.672Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Plant selection and avoidance by the Bornean elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) in tropical forest: does plant recovery rate after herbivory influence food choices?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2014

Megan English ,
Graeme Gillespie ,
Marc Ancrenaz ,
Sulaiman Ismail ,
Benoit Goossens ,
Sen Nathan  and
Wayne Linklater
Megan English*
Affiliation:
Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, New Kirk Building, Kelburn Parade, Kelburn Campus, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, 6012
Graeme Gillespie
Affiliation:
Zoology Department, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia
Marc Ancrenaz
Affiliation:
HUTAN Elephant Conservation Unit and Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project, Sukau, Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia
Sulaiman Ismail
Affiliation:
HUTAN Elephant Conservation Unit and Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project, Sukau, Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia
Benoit Goossens
Affiliation:
Danau Girang Field Centre, c/o Sabah Wildlife Department, Wisma Muis, 88100 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Organisms and Environment Division, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK Sabah Wildlife Department, Wisma Muis, 88100 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Sen Nathan
Affiliation:
Sabah Wildlife Department, Wisma Muis, 88100 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Wayne Linklater
Affiliation:
Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, New Kirk Building, Kelburn Parade, Kelburn Campus, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, 6012 Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
*
1Corresponding author. Email: Megan.English@vuw.ac.nz
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The plant vigour hypothesis proposes that herbivores should favour feeding on more vigorously growing plants or plant modules. Similarly, we would expect herbivores to favour plants that regrow vigorously after herbivory. Larger animals, like elephants, may also select plant species relative to their availability and prefer species with larger growth forms in order to meet their intake requirements. The food preferences of the Bornean elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah, Malaysia, were investigated along 12 transects in areas where elephants were recently sighted feeding. One hundred and eighty-two plants were eaten and 185 plants were measured for species availability along transects. Species vigour was determined by the monthly regrowth in new shoot length after elephant feeding and the number of new shoots produced on each plant. Measurements were carried out on each plant for 9 mo or until the new shoot was eaten. Plant sizes were determined from their basal diameter. The Bornean elephant did not prefer more vigorous species or species with larger growth forms. New shoots did not grow longer on preferred than avoided species. Additionally, unlike other elephants that live in a forest environment, the Bornean elephant preferred species from the Poaceae (specifically Phragmites karka and Dinochloa scabrida) over other plant types including gingers, palms, lianas and woody trees.

Keywords

BorneoBornean elephantfeed preferencelarge herbivoreplant sizeplant vigour
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , July 2014 , pp. 371 - 379
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

ALFRED, R. & AHMAD, A. H. 2010. Density and population estimation of the Bornean elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis) in Sabah. OnLine Journal of Biological Sciences 10:92–102.Google Scholar
ANCRENAZ, M., CALAQUE, R. & LACKMAN-ANCRENAZ, I. 2004. Orangutan nesting behaviour in disturbed forest of Sabah, Malaysia: implications for nest consensus. International Journal of Primatology 25:983–1000.Google Scholar
ASHTON, S. 2004. Soils in the tropics. Pp. 56–68 in Losos, E. C. & Leigh, E. G. (eds). Tropical forest diversity and dynamism, findings from a large-scale plot network. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
BAKER, W. L. 1972. Eastern forest insects. U.S Department of Agriculture and Forest Service Miscellaneous Publication 1175:1–642.Google Scholar
BELL, R. H. V. 1971. A grazing ecosystem in the Serengeti. Scientific American 225:86–93.Google Scholar
BERGSTRӦM, R. & HJELJORD, O. 1987. Moose and vegetation interactions in northwestern Europe and Poland. Swedish Wildlife Research Supplement 1:213–217.Google Scholar
BLAKE, S. 2002. The ecology of forest elephant distribution and its implications for conservation. Ph.D thesis, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
BLAKE, S. & INKAMBA-NKULU, C. 2004. Fruit, minerals and forest elephant trails: do all roads lead to Rome? Biotropica 36:392–401.Google Scholar
CHARNOV, E. L. 1974. Optimal foraging, the marginal value theorem. Theoretical Population Biology 9:129–136.Google Scholar
CHEN, J., DENG, X., ZHANG, L. & BAI, Z. 2006. Diet composition and foraging ecology of Asian elephants in Shangyong, Xishuangbanna, China. Acta Ecologica Sinica 26:309–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CODRON, J., CODRON, D., LEE-THORP, J. A., SPONHEIMER, M., KIRKMAN, K., DUFFY, K. J. & SEALY, J. 2011. Landscape-scale feeding patterns of African elephant inferred from carbon isotope analysis of faeces. Oecologia 165:89–99.Google Scholar
COLEY, P. D. & AIDE, T. M. 1990. A comparison of herbivory and plant defenses in temperate and tropical broad-leaved forests. Pp. 25–49 in Price, P. W., Lewinsohn, T. M., Fernandes, G. W. & Benson, W. W. (eds). Plant-animal interactions: evolutionary ecology in tropical and temperate regions. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
COLEY, P. D., BRYANT, J. P. & CHAPIN, F. S. 1985. Resource availability and plant anti-herbivore defense. Science 230:895–899.Google Scholar
CRAIGHEAD, F. C. 1950. Insect enemies of eastern forests. U.S Department of Agriculture and Forest Service Miscellaneous Publication 657:1–679.Google Scholar
DANELL, K., HUSS-DANELL, K. & BERGSTRӦM, R. 1985. Interactions between browsing moose and two species of birch in Sweden. Ecology 66:1867–1878.Google Scholar
DEMMENT, M. W. & VAN SOEST, P. J. 1985. A nutritional explanation for body-size patterns of ruminant and nonruminant herbivores. American Naturalist 125:641–672.Google Scholar
DRANSFIELD, S. 1992. The bamboos of Sabah. Forestry Department, Sabah.Google Scholar
DU TOIT, J. T. & OWEN-SMITH, N. 1989. Body size, population metabolism and habitat specialization among large African herbivores. American Naturalist 133:736–740.Google Scholar
ESTES, J. G., OTHMAN, N., ISMAIL, S., ANCRENAZ, M., GOOSSENS, B., AMBU, L. N. & PALMIOTTO, P. A. 2012. Quantity and configuration of available elephant habitat and related conservation concerns in the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain of Sabah, Malaysia. PloS One 7: e44601.Google Scholar
FURNISS, R. L. & CAROLIN, V. M. 1977. Western forest insects. U.S Department of Agriculture and Forest Service Miscellaneous Publication 1339:1–654.Google Scholar
HAMILTON, E. W. & FRANK, D. A. 2001. Can plants stimulate soil microbes and their own nutrient supply? Evidence from a grazing tolerant grass. Ecology 82:2397–2402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HOLLAND, E. A. & DETLING, J. K. 1990. Plant response to herbivory and below ground nitrogen cycling. Ecology 74:855–862.Google Scholar
JARMAN, P. J. 1974. The social organisation of antelope in relation to their ecology. Behaviour 48:215–266.Google Scholar
JOHNSON, D. H. 1980. The comparison of usage and availability measurements for evaluating resource preference. Ecology 61:65–71.Google Scholar
KEEN, F. P. 1952. Insect enemies of western forests. U.S Department of Agriculture and Forest Service Miscellaneous Publication 273:1–280.Google Scholar
MAKHABU, S.W., SKARPE, C., HYTTEBORN, H. & MPOFU, Z. D. 2006. The plant vigour hypothesis revisited – how is browsing by ungulates and elephants related to woody species growth rate? Plant Ecology 184:163–172.Google Scholar
MATSUYABASHI, H., LAGAN, P. & SUKOR, J. R. 2006. Utilisation of Macaranga trees by the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in Borneo. Mammal Study 31:115–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MCKAY, G. M. 1973. The ecology and behavior of the Asiatic elephant in southeastern Ceylon. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 125:1–113.Google Scholar
MCNAUGHTON, S. J. 1983. Compensatory plant growth as a response to herbivory. Oikos 40:329–336.Google Scholar
MCNAUGHTON, S. J., REUSS, R. W. & SEAGLE, S. W. 1988. Large mammals and process dynamics in African ecosystems. Bioscience 38:794–800.Google Scholar
MCNAUGHTON, S. J., BANIKWA, F. F. & MCNAUGHTON, M. M. 1997. Promotion of the cycling of diet enhancing nutrients by African grazers. Science 278:1798–1800.Google Scholar
OLIVIER, R. C. D. 1978. On the ecology of the Asian elephant. Ph.D thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge.Google Scholar
OWEN-SMITH, N. & COOPER, S. M. 1987. Palatability of woody plants to browsing ungulates in South African savannah. Ecology 68:319–331.Google Scholar
PETRIDES, G. A. 1975. Principal foods versus preferred foods and their relations to stocking rate and range condition. Biological Conservation 7:161–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PRADHAN, N. M., WEGGE, P., MOE, S. R. & SHRESTHA, A. K. 2008. Feeding ecology of two endangered sympatric megaherbivores: Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) in lowland Nepal. Wildlife Biology 14:147–154.Google Scholar
PRICE, P. W. 1991. The plant vigour hypothesis & herbivore attack. Oikos 62:244–251.Google Scholar
PRICE, P. W., ROININEN, H. & TAHVANAINEN, J. 1987. Why does the bud-galling sawfly, Euura mucronata, attack long shoots? Oecologica 74:1–6.Google Scholar
REUSS, R. W. 1986. The role of large herbivores in nutrient cycling of tropical savannas. Pp. 67–91 in Walker, R. H. (ed.). Determinants of tropical savannas. IRL Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
RISSER, P. G. & PARTON, W. J. 1982. Ecosystem analysis of the tall grass prairie-nitrogen-cycle. Ecology 63:1342–1351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SEYDACK, A. H., VERMUELLEN, C. & HUISMAN, J. 2000. Habitat quality and the decline of an African elephant population: implications for conservation. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 30:34–42.Google Scholar
SHORT, J. 1981. Diet and feeding behaviour of the forest elephant. Mammalia 45:176–185.Google Scholar
SHRADER, A. M., BELL, C., BERTOLLI, L. & WARD, D. 2012. Forest or the trees: at what scale do elephants make foraging decisions? Acta Oecologica 42:3–10.Google Scholar
SOORYANARAYAMA, S. 1995. Floods in Malaysia: patterns and implications. Malaysian Journal of Tropical Geography 26:35–46.Google Scholar
SUKUMAR, R. 1990. Ecology of the Asian elephant in southern India. II. Feeding habits and crop raiding patterns. Journal of Tropical Ecology 6:33–53.Google Scholar
SUKUMAR, R. & RAMESH, R. 1992. Stable carbon isotope ratios in Asian elephant collagen: implications for dietary studies. Oecologia 91:536–539.Google Scholar
TCHAMBA, M. N. & SEME, P. M. 1993. Diet and feeding behaviour of the forest elephant in the Santchou Reserve, Cameroon. African Journal of Ecology 31:165–171.Google Scholar
VIVAS, H. J., SAETHER, B. E. & ANDERSON, R. 1991. Optimal twig size selection of a generalist herbivore, the moose Alces alces: implications for plant-herbivore interactions. Journal of Animal Ecology 60:395–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WILLIAMSON, B. R. 1975. Seasonal distribution of elephant in Wankie National Park. Arnoldia 7:1–16.Google Scholar
WILSON, S. L. & KERLEY, G. L. H. 2003. Bite diameter selection by thicket browsers: the effect of body size and plant morphology on forage intake and quality. Forest Ecology Management 181:51–65.Google Scholar
WING, L. D & BUSS, I. O. 1970. Elephants and forest. Wildlife Monographs 19:1–92.Google Scholar