RESEARCH ARTICLE The Dry Season Shuffle: Gorges Provide Refugia for Animal Communities in Tropical Savannah Ecosystems J. Sean Doody1,2*, Simon Clulow2, Geoff Kay3, Domenic D’Amore4, David Rhind5, Steve Wilson6, Ryan Ellis7, Christina Castellano8, Colin McHenry5, Michelle Quayle5, Kim Hands9, Graeme Sawyer10, Michael Bass11 1 Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America, 2 School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia, 3 Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, a11111 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, 4 Department of Natural Sciences, Daemen College, Amherst, New York, United States of America, 5 Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia, 6 Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 7 Department of Terrestrial Zoology, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, Western Australia, Australia, 8 Utah’s Hogle Zoo, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America, 9 Stop the Toad Foundation, West Perth, Australia, 10 Frogwatch NT, Wagaman, Northern Territory, Australia, 11 El Questro Wilderness Park, Kununurra Western Australia, Australia *
[email protected] OPEN ACCESS Citation: Doody JS, Clulow S, Kay G, D’Amore D, Rhind D, Wilson S, et al. (2015) The Dry Season Shuffle: Gorges Provide Refugia for Animal Abstract Communities in Tropical Savannah Ecosystems. PLoS ONE 10(7): e0131186. doi:10.1371/journal. In the wet-dry tropics, animal species face the major challenges of acquiring food, water or pone.0131186 shelter during an extended dry season. Although large and conspicuous animals such as Editor: Jordi Moya-Larano, Estacion Experimental de ungulates and waterfowl migrate to wetter areas during this time, little is known of how Zonas Áridas (CSIC), SPAIN smaller and more cryptic animal species with less mobility meet these challenges.