Mass sterilization of a common palm species by elephants in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Abstract

AbstractChronic herbivory by elephants rarely eliminates any species of woody savanna plants because these plants are typically vigorous basal resprouters after damage by fire or herbivory. In some instances, resprouting after elephant herbivory even increases stem numbers per unit area compared to protected areas. It is thus difficult to know whether an area has been severely degraded by elephant herbivory or not because although trees may be severely reduced in size, they will still be present and may even be relatively dense. By using an elephant exclosure in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, we demonstrate that this resprouting ability masks the fact that entire populations of a widespread African palm, Hyphaene petersiana, are prevented from reaching sexual maturity by chronic elephant herbivory. Besides sterilizing these palms and thus preventing their evolution and seed dispersal, the absence of the palm fruits, flowers and tall stems has other negative biodiversity impacts on their associated fauna. We suggest that to determine sustainable elephant impacts on savanna plants, conservation managers also use the reproductive condition of savanna plants rather than their presence, height or stem density.