R. J. van Aarde

COMMUNITY CONVERGENCE IN DISTURBED SUBTROPICAL DUNE FORESTS

Do communities return to their former state when we disturb them? The answer is surely not always, since some disturbances may be so devastating that recovery will be impossible. If communities do recover, then how fast is that recovery? Do different subsets of species return at the same rate? Is that rate a simple exponential recovery— meaning that the change toward the original state is fastest when the community is furthest away and it slows as the community converges? Or is recovery a more dynamically complex process? These questions are theoretically interesting and practically important. The the- oretical questions are if there is a particular state—some exact composition—to which a community is likely to return, if there might be several (or many) possible such states, or if community composition is essentially haphazard. The practical implication is that if disturbed ecological communities do not tend to return to a previous state, it may be impossible to undo human impacts on natural ecosystems. We follow the fate of species assemblages following the removal of vegetation for mining. We show that these assemblages in restored subtropical coastal dune forests in South Africa do converge with a regional equilibrium state and that convergence is possible within a reasonable period. However, changes in assemblages from different trophic levels were idiosyncratic: convergence in the dung beetle assemblage did not mimic convergence for trees and birds, for example. Few of the assemblages converged exponentially, the simplest shape for the decay function. Furthermore, trends were sometimes different for different indices of community dissimilarity, suggesting that whether one accepts conver- gence depends, in part, on exactly what one measures.

The dental pathology of feral cats on Marion Island, part I : Congenital, developmental and traumatic abnormalities

Skulls (n = 301) of adult feral cats from Marion Island, a sub-Antarctic island, were examined macroscopically. Congenital anomalies, which were rare, included a few supernumerary premolars, located mesially to those normally present. Supernumerary roots, mainly of the maxillary third premolar, were found in just over 10% of cases. The maxillary second premolar was absent in 16.8% of skulls; dichotomous and double-formed roots of this tooth were present in 20.1% and 1.9% of cases, respectively. Enamel hypoplasia, which is most unusual in this species, was noted in 24.6% of cases, and persistent deciduous teeth in 2.0%. Dental abrasion, which was noted in 19.3% of cats, affected only 2.3% of teeth, most commonly the lower fourth and upper third premolars. Dental fractures, mainly complicated crown fractures and root fractures, were noted in 54.8% of cats and 7.0% of teeth. Fractures were found most commonly in the canine and carnassial teeth, as also were periapical lesions, which were often severe. Mandibular fractures in various stages of healing were found in 11 cats (3.7%); such fractures most frequently affected the body of the mandible and resulted in malunion. It was concluded that the high prevalence of dental fractures and associated periapical lesions probably exerted a significant adverse effect on health and survival in this population of feral cats.

Placentation in the African elephant (Loxodonta africana): II morphological changes in the uterus and placenta throughout gestation.

The gross and microscopic development of the zonary endotheliochorial placenta in the African elephant was studied in 22 gravid uteri that ranged in gestational stage from 0.5 to 20.6 months. The conceptus only ever occupies one horn of the uterus and is associated with 2-5 large corpora lutea that persist in the ipsilateral ovary throughout gestation. Initially, the trophoblast in the equatorial region of the conceptus completely replaces the lumenal epithelium of the endometrium to which it is apposed. Blunt upgrowths of endometrial stroma then develop, each closely invested by trophoblast, and containing the capillaries that will vascularize this maternal component of the resulting placental band. With advancing gestation the lamellate stromal upgrowths increase markedly in length and become much thinner, thereby bringing the trophoblast into intimate contact with the endothelium of the maternal capillaries. They also become folded or pleated to increase the total area of intimate feto-maternal contact. At the lateral edges of the placental band the lamellae bend over towards the endometrium to form a blind cleft. Leakage of blood into this area creates haemophagous zones in which phenotypically specialized trophoblast cells phagocytose the blood components. The presence of large resorbing blood clots and circumferential scars in the uteri of three post parturient animals initiated the hypothesis that, when the standing elephant gives birth at term, the passage of the 120 kg fetus through the vagina may wrench the placenta off the endometrium by severing its very narrow maternal placental hilus. The resulting intrauterine haemorrhage may then play a role in preventing further conception for around 2 years.

Density as an explanatory variable of movements and calf survival in savanna elephants across southern Africa.

1. Southern Africas elephant problem is often attributed to an overabundance of elephants (Loxodonta africana) in conservation areas. Paradoxically, the African elephant is listed as vulnerable (IUCN Redlist) despite occupying a large geographical range and numbering about 600 000. How densities influence elephant populations is therefore important for conservation management decisions, particularly because a move towards non-equilibrium management of savannas implies a need for elephant populations to fluctuate in response to variation in intrinsic (demographic) and extrinsic (resource) factors. 2. A study on one of the worlds largest elephant populations demonstrated that population regulation is driven by a spatial response to water availability, environmental stochasticity and density. The challenge remains to identify the demographic and behavioural variables that drive density dependence. 3. We evaluated whether the movements of elephant family groups from 13 populations across a wide resource gradient were explained by variability in primary productivity, rainfall and population density. We then assessed whether density-related movements explained variability in juvenile survival, hence inferring a spatially driven behavioural mechanism that may explain density-dependent population growth. We also analysed whether management actions modified this mechanism. 4. In the dry season, daily-displacement distances (DDDs) increased non-linearly with density, and declined with increased vegetation productivity and previous wet season rainfall. In the wet season, DDDs were primarily explained by vegetation productivity. 5. The survival of weaned calves (4-7 years) decreased with increasing dry season DDDs, but this did not hold for suckling calves (1-3 years) or sub-adults (8-11 years). 6. Fences and supplementary water modified the shape and strength of relationships between DDDs and densities, vegetation productivity and rainfall and negated the relationships between DDDs and weaned calf survival. 7. We suggest that density dependence in weaned calf survival is driven by the response of dry season roaming activities of family groups to variations in density, rainfall and the distribution of food. Fences and supplementary water that alter this mechanism may contribute to the relatively high population growth rates of some populations.

Demographic responses of house mice to density and temperature on sub-Antarctic Marion Island

Recent changes in the climate of the sub-Antarctic may influence the number of house mouse (Mus musculus sensu lato) living on islands in the region. An increase in mouse numbers, as conditions became milder, could amplify the effects of climate change on native prey species. However, we have no direct evidence of the influence of climate on mouse numbers in the sub-Antarctic. We, therefore, assessed demographic trends in the mouse population on Marion Island between 1991 and 2001. Both the climate and mouse numbers were relatively stable during our study. Mice, however, increased their reproductive output in years when ambient temperatures were relatively high. Moreover, reduced reproductive output followed high densities at the onset of a breeding season, implying density-dependent limitation. We conclude that both temperature and density limited the increase in numbers during the summer breeding season. Major die-offs during winter probably limit population size and explain the relative stability in numbers across the 10xa0years of our study.

Environmental and maternal correlates of foetal sex ratios in the African buffalo ( Syncerus caffer ) and savanna elephant ( Loxodonta africana )

Many species exhibit skewed sex ratios at birth. Here we investigate the relationships between environmental and maternal variables (as surrogates for maternal condition) and foetal sex in African buffalo Syncerus caffer and elephant Loxodonta africana of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Using logistic regression no significant effect was found of year, maternal lactational status, maternal age, rainfall or density on foetal sex ratio. Using a subset of our data, it was also concluded that maternal body condition did not affect foetal sex ratio in buffalo. Our analyses failed to support hypotheses predicting that mothers will skew the sex ratios of their offspring in relation to their body condition. In this study, buffalo and elephant produced offspring with a sex ratio close to parity. Our results are discussed in light of the implications for testing such hypotheses in analyses of population level.

Steroidogenic correlates of pregnancy in the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis).

In pregnant rock hyraxes isolated leucocytes metabolise both [3H]pregnenolone and [3H]progesterone while whole blood, erythrocytes and an erythrocyte/leucocyte mixture only metabolised [3H]progesterone. Plasma displayed no tendency to metabolically convert any one of these two steroids. In whole blood [3H]progesterone appears to be converted to 5alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione and a compound with chromatographic properties similar to that of 5alpha-pregnan-3alpha-ol-20-one. 5Alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione exhibited a high relative binding affinity for the uterine progesterone eceptor (94%), but 5alpha-pregnan-3alpha-ol-20-one displayed very little affinity for the same receptor (0.4%). 5Alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione may therefore aid in the maintenance of pregnancy. Corpora lutea metabolised progesterone to 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, a compound exhibiting no progestational function because of its low relative binding affinity for the uterine progesterone receptor (2%). Progesterone appears to be the main product of the corpus luteum. However, 5alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione circulated at concentrations approximately 8.5 times higher than progesterone, probably due to the metabolic conversion of progesterone to 5alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione by the blood. We conclude that in the hyrax progesterone, produced by the corpora lutea, enters the circulation, where it is reduced to 5alpha-pregnanes. 5Alpha-pregane-3,20-dione may then be transported to the uterus where it binds to the progesterone receptor to assist in the maintenance of pregnancy. This mechanism appears to be analogous to that of the African elephant which is phylogenetically related to the hyrax, except that in the elephant the 5alpha-reduced metabolites are produced by luteal tissue and not the blood.

Maternal dietary protein intake and sex‐specific investment in Mastomys coucha (Rodentia: Muridae)

We examined data on captive multi-mammate mice (Mastomys coucha) to assess differential maternal investment, and sex-specific resource allocation. Differences in maternal size were induced through manipulation of dietary protein in three treatment groups: low (10%), medium (15%) and high (20%) protein diets. Mothers on the 20% protein diet were significantly larger than those on the lower protein diets, and produced significantly more male than female offspring. Mothers on the lower protein diets did not produce sex-biased litters. There were no sex-specific differences in body size or body tissue composition of pups at birth or at weaning within each treatment group. At weaning, pups in the 20% protein treatment group had proportionately greater amounts of lean tissue and less body lipid reserves than pups in the 10% protein treatment group. Pups in the 20% protein treatment group were also larger, and had faster growth rates, than those in the 10% protein treatment group. Weaned pups in the 15% protein treatment group had the fastest growth rates and greatest energetic reserves of all of the treatment groups. Our results suggest that larger mothers on the high (20%) protein diet show differential investment in the sexes, not by allocating more resources to individuals of that sex, but by producing more male than female offspring.