Tragelaphus Angasii) in the Arid Mosaic Thicket of the Southern Cape
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by South East Academic Libraries System (SEALS) THE FEEDING ECOLOGY OF EXTRALIMITAL NYALA (TRAGELAPHUS ANGASII) IN THE ARID MOSAIC THICKET OF THE SOUTHERN CAPE Ryno Cuyler Pienaar 210016736 A dissertation presented for the Degree of Masters of Technology in the Nature Conservation Programme, George Campus, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University December 2013 Supervisor: Prof. L.H. Watson Co - Supervisor: Mr. A.G. Schmidt TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................... II LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... V ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... VIII DECLARATION ........................................................................................................ IX CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 1.1 BACKGROUND.................................................................................................... 1 1.2 NYALA TAXONOMY ............................................................................................ 2 1.3 NYALA DISTRIBUTION ....................................................................................... 3 1.4 FEEDING ECOLOGY ........................................................................................... 3 1.4.1 DIET COMPOSITION ............................................................................. 5 1.4.2 DIET PREFERENCE .............................................................................. 6 1.4.3 HABITAT USE ........................................................................................ 7 1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 7 CHAPTER 2: STUDY SITE ...................................................................................... 19 2.1 LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHY ...................................................................... 19 2.2 GEOMORPHOLOGY ......................................................................................... 19 2.3 CLIMATE AND WEATHER ................................................................................ 20 2.4 WATER SOURCES ............................................................................................ 21 2.5 VEGETATION .................................................................................................... 22 2.6 LARGE HERBIVORES ....................................................................................... 27 ii CHAPTER 3: DIET COMPOSITION ........................................................................ 30 3.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 30 3.2 METHODS ......................................................................................................... 33 3.2.1 STUDY SITE ........................................................................................ 33 3.2.2 FEEDING OBSERVATIONS ................................................................ 33 3.2.3 DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 35 3.3 RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 35 3.3.1 NYALA DIET COMPOSITION .............................................................. 35 3.3.2 DIET COMPOSITION OF MALE AND FEMALE NYALA ................ 33336 3.4 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 41 3.4.1 USE OF THE GRASS COMPONENT .................................................. 41 3.4.2 USE OF THE BROWSE COMPONENT ............................................... 42 3.4.3 DIET COMPOSITION BETWEEN THE SEXES ................................... 43 3.4.4 MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS .......................................................... 44 3.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 45 CHAPTER 4: DIET PREFERENCE ......................................................................... 46 4.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 4446 4.2 METHODS ......................................................................................................... 49 4.2.1 STUDY SITE ........................................................................................ 49 4.2.2 FEEDING OBSERVATIONS ................................................................ 49 4.2.3 DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 50 4.3 RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 51 4.3.1 PLANT SPECIES ACCEPTABILITY AND AVAILABILITY .................... 51 4.3.2 ACCEPTABILITY/AVAILABILITY BETWEEN THE SEXES.................. 55 4.4 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 56 iii 4.4.1 SELECTION OF THE HERBACEOUS COMPONENT ......................... 57 4.4.2 SELECTION OF THE WOODY COMPONENT .................................... 57 4.4.3 SELECTIVITY OF MALE AND FEMALE NYALA ................................. 62 4.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER 5: HABITAT USE ................................................................................... 67 5.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 67 5.2 METHODS ......................................................................................................... 69 5.2.1 STUDY SITE ........................................................................................ 69 5.2.2 HABITAT USE OBSERVATIONS ......................................................... 69 5.2.3 DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 70 5.3 RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 71 5.3.1 SEASONAL NYALA HABITAT USE ..................................................... 71 5.3.2 HABITAT USE BETWEEN THE SEXES .............................................. 71 5.3.3 ANNUAL HABITAT USE OF NYALA, KUDU AND ELAND .................. 72 5.4 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 78 5.4.1 NYALA HABITAT USE ......................................................................... 78 5.4.2 HABITAT USE BETWEEN THE SEXES .............................................. 80 5.4.3 THE INFLUENCE OF OTHER BROWSING UNGULATES .................. 82 5.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 85 CHAPTER 6: OVERVIEW ....................................................................................... 86 6.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 86 6.2 NYALA FEEDING ECOLOGY ............................................................................ 86 6.2.1 NYALA AS A SPECIES ........................................................................ 86 6.2.2 FEEDING ECOLOGY OF THE RESPECTIVE SEXES ........................ 87 iv 6.2.3 THE INFLUENCE OF OTHER BROWSING UNGULATES .................. 88 6.3 MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS ....................................................................... 89 6.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH .................................................... 93 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 95 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1.1: PLANT SPECIES AVAILABLE IN NYALA FEEDING STATIONS FROM MAY 2012 TO APRIL 2013 ......................................................................... 115 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Climate diagram for the Oudtshoorn area .............................................. 21 Figure 2.2: Habitat units available to nyala in Buffelsdrift Private Game Reserve .... 24 Figure 2.3: Nyala, kudu and eland habitat use observations .................................... 76 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Results of road counts conducted by Buffelsdrift staff ............................. 29 Table 3.1: Seasonal contribution of plant forms to the annual nyala diet ................. 37 Table 3.2: Plant species contributing > 1% to the annual nyala diet ........................ 38 Table 3.3: Plant forms in the diet of male and female nyala ..................................... 39 Table 3.4: Plant species in the diet of male and female nyala .................................. 40 Table 4.1: Seasonal variation in important and commonly encountered plant species acceptability ............................................................................................................. 53 Table 4.2: Seasonal variation in important and commonly encountered plant species site availability .........................................................................................................