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© Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2004
http://www.ambio.kva.se
276
Ambio Vol. 33 No. 6, August 2004
The Return of the Giants: Ecological Effects
of an Increasing Elephant Population
Christina Skarpe, Per Arild Aarrestad, Harry P. Andreassen, Shivcharn S. Dhillion, Thatayaone Dimakatso,
Johan T. du Toit, Duncan, J. Halley, Håkan Hytteborn, Shimane Makhabu, Moses Mari, Wilson Marokane,
Gaseitsiwe Masunga, Ditshoswane Modise (†), Stein R. Moe, Rapelang Mojaphoko, David Mosugelo,
Sekgowa Motsumi, Gosiame Neo-Mahupeleng, Mpho Ramotadima, Lucas Rutina, Lettie Sechele, Thato B.
Sejoe, Sigbjørn Stokke, Jon E. Swenson, Cyril Taolo, Mark Vandewalle and Per Wegge
Northern Botswana and adjacent areas, have the worldʼs
largest population of African elephant (
Loxodonta afri-
cana
). However, a 100 years ago elephants were rare
following excessive hunting. Simultaneously, ungulate
populations were severely reduced by decease. The eco-
logical effects of the reduction in large herbivores must
have been substantial, but are little known. Today, how-
ever, ecosystem changes following the increase in ele-
phant numbers cause considerable concern in Botswana.
This was the background for the “BONIC” project, inves-
tigating the interactions between the increasing elephant
population and other ecosystem components and pro-
cesses. Results confirm that the ecosystem is changing
following the increase in elephant and ungulate popula-
tions, and, presumably, developing towards a situation
resembling that before the reduction of large herbivores.
We see no ecological reasons to artificially change el-
ephant numbers. There are, however, economic and
social reasons to control elephants, and their range in
northern Botswana may have to be artificially restricted.
Article
INTRODUCTION
Many of the large African rivers flow through areas, that, for at
least part of the year, are devoid of other surface water. In such
areas, animals that are water dependent may aggregate at the
permanent water in the dry season and disperse in the wet sea
-
son to areas with temporary water supplies and higher quality
and/or quantity of forage. Almost certainly, this is how the eco
-
system around the Chobe River functioned for millennia. About
150 years ago, however, the Chobe system changed. Hunting of
elephants for ivory had been practiced for at least 1000 years
(1), but on a small scale and, presumably, within a sustainable
level. With increasing markets in the 19
th
century the hunting of
elephants increased (1, 2), and towards the end of the century
elephants were rare in Botswana. The Chiefs and the Protector
-
ate Authorities reacted by imposing regulations on hunting of
elephants, and in the 1930s elephant numbers began to increase
(2, 3). Today, the elephant population in northern Botswana and
adjacent parts of Zimbabwe and Namibia is estimated to more
than 100 000 animals (4), constituting the largest population on
the continent (5). Mean density of elephants along the Chobe
riverfront in the dry season is about 4 animals per km
2
, drop-
ping to ca. 0.5 per km
2
during the wet season, when elephants
disperse southwards drinking from temporary pans (6).
About the same time as the elephant population reached its
nadir, other changes took place. Rinderpest, a disease spread by
cattle, came to Africa in 1887 and reached Botswana in 1896–
1897, causing heavy mortality in wild and domestic ungulates
(1). In addition, both species of rhinoceros (Ceratotherium si
-
mum and Diceros bicornis) were wiped out, or virtually so, by
hunters. During the 1930s and again in the early 1950s, timber
was extracted from the woodlands along the Chobe River, and a
sawmill and a village were built on the riverfront (7).
There is almost no documented evidence of vegetation com
-
position and structure along the Chobe River before the ele
-
phants and the rhinos disappeared and rinderpest caused major
decline in ungulate populations. However, the changes caused
by the decline of megaherbivores and other large herbivores
must have cascaded through the ecosystem, affecting soils, veg
-
etation, herbivores, and predators. Changes in fuel load, caused
both by alterations in herbivory regime and as a result of timber
extraction, probably increased fire frequency (3).
We know slightly more about the ecological processes asso
-
ciated with the recovery of elephant and ungulate populations.
The resulting habitat modifications have caused concern in Bo
-
tswana about potential adverse effects on the area’s biodiver
-
sity and for the loss of scenic woodlands along the river (8, 9).
Both factors have implications for the region’s lucrative tourist
industry. In particular, the loss of the
Acacia woodlands along
the riverfront (10) and the decline since the 1960s of the Chobe
bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus ornatus) (8) are sources of con
-
cern for conservationists and park managers. The increasing el
-
ephant population obviously plays a role in these changes, and
the ”Chobe elephant problem” has been given highest priority in
nature conservation and management by Botswana authorities;
the ultimate question being: to cull or not to cull (11, 12). How
-
ever, there is some uncertainty about the ecosystem processes
associated with the increasing elephant population.
BOTSWANA NORWAY INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION
AND CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT (
BONIC)
In an effort by Botswana Department of Wildlife and National
Parks (DWNP) to improve the preconditions for management of
wildlife resources, the Botswana Norway Institutional Coopera
-
tion and Capacity Building Project (BONIC) was established in
1998 and ran for 5 years. The project was based on cooperation
between DWNP, the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
(NINA) and the Centre for International Environment and De
-
velopment Studies (Noragric) at the Agricultural University of
Norway. The project had a threefold aim:
i) to provide formal
and informal research training to DWNP staff (7 MSc and 4
PhD students have been or are being trained within the project);
ii) to carry out research that improves the understanding of the
ecosystems in northern Botswana and the systematic changes
that are taking place, and
iii) to encourage and facilitate the use
of the improved knowledge and staff capacity by DWNP in the
management of wild natural resources.
There have been many studies on the Chobe elephants (6,
13–17) and their impact on trees (3, 18–20). However, less is
known about the wider ecological implications of the elephant
activities, including the interactions with nutrient availability
and distribution, vegetation dynamics, distribution and behavior
of other mammals and biological diversity and species richness
(9, 21, 22). Therefore, BONIC was not specifically studying el
-
ephants, but rather elephant – ecosystem interactions (23).
BONIC consisted of seven interrelated studies or subprojects
(Fig. 1), most of them run by one Norwegian researcher and one
DWNP counterpart and/or a PhD or MSc student. The topics of
© Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2004
http://www.ambio.kva.se
Ambio Vol. 33 No. 6, August 2004
277
the subprojects were:
To quantify the relationships between elephants: and
1. soil properties and nutrient cycling;
2. herbaceous vegetation composition and grazing;
3. woody vegetation structure, composition, regeneration and
browsing;
4. distribution and community composition of mammals and
gallinaceous bird
s;
5. population ecology and behavior of impala (Aepyceros
melampus
);
6. behavioral ecology of buffalo (
Syncerus caffer);
7. population ecology of lions (
Panthera leo).
Dur
ing the first three years the project also included a socio-
economic component (24, 25).
The project had a common core study area, which was photo
-
graphed from the air in 1998. Based on the photographs a map of
the six main habitat types was constructed, including floodplain,
riparian forest,
Capparis shrubland, Combretum shrubland,
mixed woodland and
Baikiaea woodland (Fig. 2). Five transects
(old fire breaks) run south from and perpendicular to the river
through the core area. Along each of the 5 transects permanent
sampling sites were established, in total 13 sites in the
Capparis
shrubland and 15 in each of the other habitat types except the
riparian forest fringe that was too fragmented to sample in this
way. The following is an outline of the project, showing some of
its results and conclusions.
PAST AND PRESENT VEGETATION
To quantify the relationship between vegetation and large herbi-
vores, we described the woody and herbaceous vegetation and
its current use by elephants and other large herbivores. Present
vegetation was also compared with historical records, in order
to describe the changes taking place primarily since the 1960s,
when elephants were again becoming common in the area. Veg
-
etation was analyzed in the 73 permanent sample sites along the
five transects. For herbaceous plants and woody plants < 0.5 m
tall, canopy cover per species was recorded in five plots of 1 m
2
at each site. For the tree layer, including woody plants > 0.5 m
tall, density of trees by species and height and canopy cover for
each tree were recorded in one 400 m
2
plot at each site. In addi-
tion, in 2003, we re-analyzed the vegetation transects analyzed
by Simpson in 1969/1970 (10) and Addy in 1992 (8).
The seasonally inundated floodplains are today dominated
by the grazing-tolerant, strongly rhizomatous perennial grass
Cynodon dactylon and the grazing-resistant, sharp and stiff Veti
-
veria nigritana. These obviously grazing-adapted grasses were
not listed by Simpson (10) as dominant floodplain species in
the area in 1969/1970, when grazing pressure was lower than
today. The narrow strip of riparian forest (hardly visible in Fig.
2) along the river was already reduced by the time of Simpson’s
study (10), and only fragments remain today (26). The elevated
alluvial plains between the floodplains and the Kalahari sand
ridge were described by Selous (27) in 1874 as an open flat with
widely scattered clumps of bush and with large
Acacia trees at
the edge of the river (the riparian forest fringe). This descrip
-
tion is from the time when elephant numbers were declining and
before the rinderpest outbreak. A hundred years later, when ele
-
phants had increased again, Simpson (10) described the elevated
alluvial plains as a degrading riverine tree savanna with large
Acacia- and Combretum trees and a well-developed shrub layer.
Today, most of the large trees are dead and the area is covered
by Capparis shrubland, dominated by Capparis tomentosa and
Combretum mossambicense
(Fig. 2).
Very limited information is available from old written sources
about the woodland vegetation on Kalahari sand dominating fur
-
ther away from the river. However, there is evidence (Skarpe
et al. unpubl. data) that some shrub species and the large tree
species, including Baikiaea plurijuga, have decreased within
some kilometers from the river since Simpson’s study (7) in
1969/1970. Instead there has been an increase in some smaller
tree species. A comparative study of aerial photographs from
1962, 1985, and 1998, covering the period of major increase in
elephant numbers, showed a general decline in woodlands and
a corresponding increase in shrub vegetation (26, 28). Today,
Combretum shrublands dominate in the transition zone between
sand and alluvial soils, followed by mixed woodlands with scat
-
tered large Baikiaea plurijuga and many smaller tree species,
and Baikiaea woodland furthest away from the river. Recent
data from the sampling sites along the transects and from the
aerial photography (Fig. 2) indicate that distribution of habitats
may be governed by interactions between soil resources (Table
1) and herbivore impact.
ELEPHANTS
SOIL
VEGETATION
PREDATORS
UNGULATES
2,3
1
1
1
4,7
4,7
4,5,6
4,5,6
2,3
Figure 1. A schematic picture of the Chobe ecosystem and the
research areas for the BONIC subprojects, referred to by the
numbers from the list in the text.
Table 1. Levels of selected nutrients in four habitat types in Chobe
National Park*. Shrubland includes
Capparis
and
Combretum
shrublands.
Habitat Calcium
(cmol kg
-1
)
Phosphorus
(ppm)
Organic
Matter (%)
pH
Floodplain 14,2 9,1 2,4 4,7
Shrubland 3,8 13,1 0,7 6
Mixed woodland 1,1 4,4 0,4 5,1
Baikiaea
woodland 1,06 2,2 0,4 5
*Masunga and Dhillion unpubl. data.
Figure 2. Habitat map over the core study area at the Chobe river
front showing the 6 recognized habitat types, major roads and the 5
common sampling transects. The narrow fringe of riparian forest is
barely visible on the map.
© Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2004
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278
Ambio Vol. 33 No. 6, August 2004
The herbaceous vegetation in the woodlands is dominated by
grasses of the genera
Aristida and Digitaria, as also recorded by
Simpson (10), but in addition we found Panicum maximum, an
excellent fodder grass, among the dominants. Most grass species
in the woodlands are perennial, and species composition var
-
ied little with interannual variation in rainfall. Ordination of the
data on herbaceous vegetation using Detrended Correspondence
Analysis (29) shows the gradient in community composition
along one of the transects (Fig. 3).
WOODLAND REGENERATION
The concern about the reduction in
woodlands cover has focused
on the visible impact by elephants and fire on mature trees (3,
18, 19). However, to maintain a healthy tree population, a reduc
-
tion of life span of mature trees is less important than the lack
of regeneration and of recruitment of new individuals into the
reproductive population (30). We found seedlings and saplings
of woody plants to be rare and the soil seed bank small (< 100
viable seeds per m
2
) in all habitat types (31). In the riparian for-
est fringe the soil seed bank had about five times more viable
seeds in areas with relatively low elephant impact than in heav
-
ily impacted areas, and the species composition was different
(31). The similarity between the aboveground flora and the seed
bank flora was low, as is often the case. Potential reasons for
the low rate of sexual reproduction could be predation on seeds
and/or seedlings by insects, rodents or larger mammals (31) or
depletion of symbionts, e. g. mychorrizal fungi, in the soil fol
-
lowing the death of the mature trees.
There has been special interest in the lack of regeneration
of the riverine
Acacia woodlands on the elevated alluvial flats.
Studies at Lake Manyara in Tanzania have shown that
Acacia
tree populations are unable to regenerate during periods of high
impala density due to intense seedling predation (32). We found
local impala densities higher than 150 animals per km
2
in some
areas along the Chobe riverfront. To test the idea that seedling
predation by impala is an important reason for the lack of regen
-
eration of trees on the elevated alluvial plains along the Chobe
riverfront (33), an exclosure experiment was performed. Seed
-
lings were planted in areas with different impala densities in
i)
complete exclosures, ca. 6 m
2
; ii) semipermeable exclosures, ca.
6 m
2
, open below 0.5 m above the ground allowing access by
small animals like birds, rodents and baboons (Papio ursinus
);
or iii) in unfenced control areas. Seedlings were of four tree spe-
cies, two species that have increased in density in the area since
the studies of Simpson (10) and Addy (8), (Croton megalobotrys
and Combretum mossambicense) and two species that have de-
creased in density during the same period (
Faidherba (formerly
Acacia) albida and Garcinia livingstonei). Growth rate, tissue
loss and mortality of the seedlings were recorded and related to
treatment and density of impala in the area. Preliminary results
show that browsing by large herbivores, e. g., impala, plays an
important role in predation on tree seedlings close to the river
(34).
Thus, written evidence shows that the huge
Acacia trees, for
which the Chobe riverine woodlands were famous in the 1960s
(10), established after Selous’ visit to the area in 1874 (27), and
were already old and dying without regeneration in 1969 (7).
Both the written evidence and our experiment suggest that these
Acacia trees were derived from a cohort of seedlings established
some 100 years ago, when populations of elephants, impalas
and other browsers were low. The experiment further predicts
that with high ungulate densities some tree species may not be
able to regenerate in most of the riverine habitat. Such species
may depend on local refugia like steep riverbanks, and on natu
-
ral dynamics of herbivore densities, caused, e. g., by drought or
disease, for persistence in the area.
GRAZERS AND BROWSERS
Herbivore-induced changes in vegetation composition may
take either of two fundamentally different directions (30), lead-
ing to an increase in fast-growing palatable species or in slow-
growing, often chemically defended, unpalatable species (Fig. 4).
We used both observational studies and controlled experiments
with simulated and real browsing to study the interactions be
-
tween large herbivores, plant traits and changes in plant species
composition in the relatively nutrient-rich alluvial soil and on
the relatively nutrient-poor Kalahari sand. In the sampling sites
along the transects signs of grazing and browsing were recorded.
For the tree layer the number of twigs of 8 mm diameter (= aver
-
age elephant bite diameter (16)), current season’s shoots, bites
by ungulates on current season’s shoots and bites/breaks by el
-
ephants were counted on each tree. Results show a strong gradi
-
ent with generally increasing herbivore impact from the
Baikiaea
woodland to the shrublands. The data also reveal considerable
differences between elephants and ungulates in foraging pattern
and in response to the herbivory-induced vegetation changes.
Whereas elephant browsing pressure (% of trees utilized) was
highest in the mixed woodlands and Combretum shrublands, un
-
gulate browsing pressure (% of shoots utilized) peaked in the
Capparis shrublands. This pattern may be caused partly by the
low availability of browse for elephants in the shrublands com
-
pared to the woodlands, but also reflects a difference between
elephants and ungulates in browse-species preference. Some of
the tree species that have increased in density in the
Capparis
shrublands since the studies by Simpson (10) and Addy (8),
e.
g., Capparis tomentosa and Combretum mossambicense, are
intensely browsed by ungulates like impala and kudu, but are
Figure 3. Ordination (Canonical Correspondence Analysis) of the
herbaceous vegetation in one of the transects showing the gradient
in species composition from the
Baikiaea
woodland (green) to the
mixed woodland (red),
Combretum
shrubland (blue) and
Capparis
shrubland (yellow). Symbols indicate sampling plots, 5 at each site.
Figure 4. Browsing by ungulates may lead to the dominance
either of fast growing, palatable species (a) or of slow growing,
often defended, unpalatable species (b), with different implica-
tions for nutrient cycling, heterogeneity of resource availability
and further browsing.
© Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2004
http://www.ambio.kva.se
Ambio Vol. 33 No. 6, August 2004
279
avoided by elephants. Elephants, on the other hand, selectively
browse some of the Combretum species increasing on the Ka
-
lahari sand (Skarpe et al.
unpubl.). Elephant impact was also
found to be higher in areas of more undulating terrrain compared
to relatively flat areas (35).
ELEPHANTS AND MICROBES
One of the most important ways by which large herbivores in
-
teract with their environment is by affecting nutrient distribu
-
tion and availability (30). In most terrestrial ecosystems, the
majority of the net primary production enters the decomposition
subsystem as plant litter. However, in savanna ecosystems fires,
insects or large herbivores may consume considerable amounts
of aboveground biomass.
Selective herbivory may influence species composition of the
vegetation and hence quantity and quality of plant litter. Gen
-
erally, litter from fast-growing plants or plant parts decompose
rapidly, whereas litter from slow-growing plants decomposes
slowly and may cause immobilization of nutrients in the soil
(36). Thus, the herbivory-induced increase either in fast-grow
-
ing or in slow-growing species may lead to positive feedback
loops via changes in the nutrient cycling rate (30; Fig. 4).
A pilot study on decomposition of lit
-
ter from three different tree species was
undertaken in the different habitat types.
Results so far indicate that weight loss in
litter assumed an exponential trend with a
steep rise when monthly average temper
-
ature and humidity are high. Differences
in decomposition rates between tree spe
-
cies have been recorded (Fig. 5). Rates of
losses based on total dry matter will be
correlated with loss rates of different nu
-
trients in the litter and soil. Knowledge
of the different rates of decomposition of
plant species can indicate the spatial pat
-
tern of nutrient distribution. The results so
far suggest that the different habitats may
represent different nutrient cycling states
within the landscape (Masunga and Dhil
-
lion, unpubl. data).
ELEPHANTS AND OTHER
HERBIVORES
By influencing vegetation structure and
composition as well as the fire regime, el
-
ephants may change the availability and
distribution of food and shelter for other
herbivores (37). We followed communi
-
ty composition and habitat utilization of
mammals and gallinaceous birds in order
to trace effects of the changing habitats.
A trapping survey of small mammals
(less than 2 kg) in the mixed woodland
(38) showed that the species composition
of the small mammal community varied
greatly over short distances. Apparently,
this is in response to small-scale variation
in vegetation composition and structure,
often created or enhanced by large her
-
bivore activities like trampling, digging,
defecation and urination.
Density and distribution of mammals
larger than 2 kg and of gallinaceaous birds
(e. g., guinea fowl) were studied using the
methodology described by Buckland et al.
(39) and Motsumi (40). Ten transects, run
-
ning parallel and perpendicular to the river, were driven during
the wet and the dry season in the morning, evening and night
,
using spotlights. More ungulate species were present in the dry
season than during the wet season (Fig. 6). Ordination with
Canonical Correspondence Analysis and Redundancy Analysis
(28) showed significant positive correlation between elephant
Figure 5. Decomposition rate of leaves of two different tree species
in
Baikiaea
woodland. Figures are weight loss in g (mean +/- S.E.)
per month.
Figure 6. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) – triplot diagram of species, sampling sites
and significant environmental variables during the dry season (upper) and a corresponding Re
-
dundancy Analysis (RDA) – triplot for the wet season (lower). Habitat types, sample transects and
environmental variables are explained in the Figure.
© Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2004
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280
Ambio Vol. 33 No. 6, August 2004
impact, availability of certain tree species much browsed by
ungulates, ungulate browsing pressure and the distribution of
ungulate species (Fig. 6). Both in the wet and the dry season
about half the ungulate species exhibited a positive correlation
with elephant impact, measured as % of woody plants recently
browsed or broken by elephants (Stokke et al. unpubl.; Fig.
6).
Impalas remained primarily in the heavily elephant-impact
-
ed Capparis-, and Combretum shrublands the whole year. As
an indicator of impala population performance and to study
juvenile mortality, 80 newborn lambs have been radio collared,
20 per year from 1998 to 2001. Births were highly synchro-
nized in mid-November. The influence of rainfall (amount and
distribution in space and time) on the annual production of im
-
pala lambs is being investigated. Results indicate that juvenile
mortality is low, and that the numbers of impala are increas
-
ing along the riverfront (33). One plausible explanation for the
increase in impala densities is the increase in palatable shrubs
like Combretum mossambicense and Capparis tomentosa
.
Impala population data were also used in a bio-economic
model (24) indicating a high potential value of the animals
for local communities both for nonconsumptive and, outside
the Chobe National Park, consumptive use. Such utilization
would, however, in most cases require improved organizations
for Community Based Natural Resources Management (25).
At the start of the project the Chobe buffalo population was
believed to be in decline (41), and the possibility that competi
-
tion with elephants was the underlying cause was discussed
by conservationists and management authorities. Buffalo are
the second most important large herbivore in the ecosystem in
terms of biomass, after the elephant, and, like the elephants,
most of the population leaves the river front in the wet sea-
son. To gain a better understanding of the movement pattern
of buffalo, 20 females and 20 males were radio collared during
the first two years of the project. Figure 7 shows a summary
of movement data over 19 months. During the dry season the
buffalo were concentrated along the riverfront in large herds
numbering up to 1300 individuals. In the wet season buffalo
dispersed into the woodlands south of the core area, drinking
at temporary pans. At this time the large herds broke up into
smaller groups of ca. 50 – 200 animals (42). Although this pop
-
ulation has been reputed to move as far as Nxai Pan, ca 200 km
south, we found no evidence of seasonal long distance move-
ments. Wet season ranges of the population were confined to
within ca. 60 km of the dry season ranges (Fig. 7).
While it has long been known that male buffalo move in and
out of herds, cows have been considered to remain within their
natal herd all their lives (43, 44). Our study has showed that
a large proportion of the Chobe females switched herds, and
some emigrated long distances (up to 133 km (45)).
During the time of the study, buffalo maintained good body
condition throughout the year, and the population structure
suggested a slow increase in numbers instead of the previ
-
ously assumed decline (46). This suggests that buffalo were
not limited by competition with elephants or smaller ungulates
for food. In our study, both dung analyses (46) and isotope
analysis (unpubl. data) indicate that buffalo at Chobe browse
very little, limiting potential dietary competition to grazing.
A study in the dry season found elephants avoided areas of
floodplain recently grazed by buffalo, while buffalo preferred
areas of floodplain recently grazed by elephants (46). Thus,
there is no evidence that elephant grazing at Chobe reduces
food resources for buffalo, but some indication that grazing by
buffalo may adversely affect grazing resources for elephants,
a conclusion supported by Prins (44) and Van de Koppel and
Prins (37).
A FLUCTUATING LION POPULATION ON THE CHOBE
RIVERFRONT
Lion populations are assumed to be regulated by food and so
-
cial factors. The impact by elephants on vegetation may influ-
ence lion populations directly by changing visibility and ac
-
cessibility during hunts, and indirectly by changing density,
population structure and/or the behavior of prey animals.
In the project we were able to follow the whole resident riv
-
erfront lion population by radio tracking eight collared females
in five different groups and the three pride males present in
the area. We monitored data on space and habitat use, food in-
take, social interactions, cub production and loss of individuals
by regularly tracking and observing the lion groups over four
years.
The results show that the riverfront lion population was di
-
vided in semi-independent groups of females and young, ar
-
ranged linearly along the heavily elephant-impacted riverfront.
Data on prey selection suggest that buffalo and elephant calves
constituted a significant proportion of the diet both during the
wet and dry season. The lion population size varied consider
-
ably through our four years of study (> 60%). Even though
birth rate and cub survival appeared to be high, and may have
created short-term increase in population size, it was not large
enough to avoid occasional decreases in population size. In
some periods the lion population was so small that it was
highly vulnerable to stochastic demographic events. The main
reasons for the observed decreases in population size may be
summarized as: i) The litter sex ratio has been significantly
male biased resulting in a high proportion of dispersing sub-
adults; ii) high human-induced mortality among pre-dispersing
sub-adults, e.g. poaching and traffic accidents; iii) emigration
of female groups; iv) lack of immigration; and v) infanticide.
Only one immigrant lion has been observed during our four
years of study. This was an adult male that took over as a pride
male for some of the female groups and killed their cubs. A
female biased sex ratio in the adult segment of the popula
-
tion and low immigration rate have posed a question regarding
the extent of isolation and inbreeding of the Chobe riverfront
population (47). This question is being addressed by genetic
analyses of tissue samples.
Figure 7. Distribution of buffalo in the dry (red crosses) and wet
(blue dots) seasons. Each point represents one location of a herd
(which may contain more than one collared animal).
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Ambio Vol. 33 No. 6, August 2004
281
DYNAMICS OF THE CHOBE ECOSYSTEM
The changes in vegetation structure and composition recorded
during the last ca. 50 years along the Chobe riverfront are as
-
sumed by local people, conservationists and scientists to be
caused mainly by the increasing elephant population (7, 8, 10–
12,19). Such changes have been reported from many areas with
increasing elephant activity (21, 48–50), and may involve al-
terations in tree size structure (49) and/or tree species composi-
tion (50). However, while elephants selectively destroy mature
trees, the density and species composition of tree regeneration
may be determined by fire and/or predation on seeds or seed-
lings (31, 32, 34, 48, 51,). While fires were important in the
Chobe riverfront ecosystem following the logging operations
and when herbivore densities were low (3), they are now un-
common within our core study area (26, Skarpe unpubl. data),
although they have significant impact on woodland structure
and composition further away from the river (19, 46).
Other factors that could have contributed to the observed
ecosystem changes include alterations in water availability.
There are indications that the availability of surface water has
decreased in southern Africa during the last ca. 100 years (refs
in 1 and 52). Still, Tyson (52) did not find any regional trend in
rainfall during the period for which records are available (since
ca. 1910; 52). Reduced water availability would, of course,
negatively affect woody vegetation. However, it can not ex-
plain both the establishment of the riverine Acacia woodlands
after the 1870s and their subsequent decline and replacement
with shrubs from the 1960s. Further, the strip of riparian for
-
est, of which only fragments are left in most places, is still
comparatively intact close to settlements, where animal impact
is reduced. We, therefore, conclude that the declines and later
increases in the elephant and antelope populations are the main
cause for the vegetation changes described.
While changes in structure and composition of vegetation
following herbivory are readily described, we are only begin
-
ning to understand the impact of large herbivores on ecosystem
processes. Herbivory-induced changes in vegetation composi
-
tion may lead to dominance of species with different growth
rates and leaf chemistry, compared to the former dominants.
This influences litter quality and quantity and, therefore, nu
-
trient cycling and resource distribution (30). Eventually, this
is expected to have feedback effects on the herbivores them
-
selves. How such feedbacks may operate depends on which
direction the vegetation changes take: towards species that are
slow-growing and unpalatable or towards species that are fast-
growing and palatable (Fig. 4). Our data on woody vegetation
and browsing give no evidence of a decrease in palatability of
woody vegetation in the heavily elephant-impacted areas. The
distribution patterns of mammals (> ca 2 kg) and gallinaceous
birds exhibit concentrations in the most impacted areas close
to the river, which for highly mobile species like birds and
larger mammals can not be explained by the vicinity to water
only. Further, we recorded an increase in populations of buf-
falo (46) as well as in impala (34), and older records (3, 7) sug
-
gest a long-term increase in populations of buffalo, impala and
greater kudu. This is contrary to the findings of Fritz et al. (53),
who analyzed wildlife censuses from 31 conserved African
ecosystems and concluded that elephants negatively affected
populations of browsers and mixed feeders, but had no influ-
ence on grazers. One reason for this Chobe paradox may be
the intermittent pattern of herbivory. Intensity of browsing and
grazing is highest during the dry season, when plants largely
are dormant, and lowest in the wet growing period, when many
animals disperse away from the riverfront. Another contribut-
ing factor may be a net import of nutrients from the wood-
lands to the shrublands and floodplains close to the river, as
elephants forage mostly in the woodlands but spend consider-
able time each day drinking and socializing close to the river,
and, thus, deposit large amounts of faeces and urine there.
ARE THERE TOO MANY ELEPHANTS?
The density of elephants in the Chobe area before the large-
scale ivory hunt in the mid- and late-19
th
century is not known.
Campbell (2) used Parker and Graham's (54) equation for cal
-
culating elephant densities from rainfall, soil types and human
population. He estimated the number of elephants in the whole
of Botswana in the beginning of the 19
th
century to be between
200 000 and 400 000 animals, with the highest densities in the
mesic north. Perhaps, there never was an equilibrium between
woodland vegetation and elephants, but instead multiple stable
states, with transitions triggered, e. g., by periodic droughts,
or a stable limit cycle, in which elephant densities increased
while eating down the vegetation, then declined because of a
shortage of food until low elephant density allowed the vegeta-
tion to recover, and elephants again increased (51, 55, cf. 56).
Such dynamics probably cascade through the whole ecosystem,
and may in the long term facilitate the coexistence of species
with different environmental requirements. If this hypothesis
is valid, man can create an artificial equilibrium by locking the
system in a state of low elephant density (55), but this may in
the long term lead to loss of biological diversity.
Much of the Chobe elephant problem has concerned the role
of elephants in the disappearance of the riverine Acacia wood-
lands on the elevated alluvial plains along the Chobe River.
As we have shown, these woodlands were probably a transient
artefact, caused by artificially low densities of large herbivores
following rinderpest and excessive hunting of elephants about
100 years ago, creating a window of opportunity for seedling
establishment. Now that these woodlands have all but disap
-
peared, their re-establishment would require drastic reductions
in herbivore populations, including not only elephants, but also
smaller browsers like impala (32–34, 37, 57).
Our studies have confirmed that the ecosystem along the
Chobe riverfront has changed profoundly since the 1960s,
probably reverting towards a situation somewhat similar to the
one before the excessive hunting of elephants and the rinder-
pest panzootic. There is, however, little evidence of a reduc-
tion in the carrying capacity for other large herbivores, in fact
the dominating species of browsers, grazers and mixed feeders
have increased in numbers concurrently with the elephants.
This does not, of course, mean that habitat conditions have
not declined for some species, such as bushbuck. We do not,
however, see any ecological reason to artificially change the
number of elephants in Chobe National Park, either through
culling or opening new dry season ranges by providing extra
water from boreholes (58). Nevertheless, there are social and
economic reasons to limit the distribution of elephants in Bo-
tswana, and it may be necessary to draw limits to the permis
-
sible elephant range, destroying groups that emigrate beyond
those boundaries. This would relieve human-elephant conflict
while providing the opportunity for a sustainable harvest of
such ”surplus” animals and the marketing of various commodi
-
ties, as far as international rules will allow.
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Corresponding author: Christina Skarpe, PhD,
and associate professor, mainly involved in re-
search on interactions between large herbivores
and their environment. Her address: Norwegian
Institute for Nature Research, Tungasletta 2, N-
7485 Trondheim, Norway.
christina.skarpe@nina.no
For other authors addresses contact the corre-
sponding author.
