The ecological role of elephants in Africa

Addresses the problems associateed with ecological arguments for conserving species, and notes these arise because the ecological role of a species is rarely obvious to non-ecologists, and that it is difficult to show the consequences of losing a species until after it is gone. A number of example...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: David Western
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IUCN 1989-12-01
Series:Pachyderm
Online Access:https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/692
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849325599155290112
author David Western
author_facet David Western
author_sort David Western
collection DOAJ
description Addresses the problems associateed with ecological arguments for conserving species, and notes these arise because the ecological role of a species is rarely obvious to non-ecologists, and that it is difficult to show the consequences of losing a species until after it is gone. A number of examples of the keystone role of elephants in African ecosystems are cited. The Amboseli example in Kenya illustrates what happens to biological diversity when through time in relationship to a widely varying population of elephants. Various ecological roles of elephants such as agents of seed dispersal, creators of openings or gaps in forest areas are discuss.
format Article
id doaj-art-c078b1a5ec6b4aadbee09a395e3d6b58
institution Kabale University
issn 1026-2881
1683-5018
language English
publishDate 1989-12-01
publisher IUCN
record_format Article
series Pachyderm
spelling doaj-art-c078b1a5ec6b4aadbee09a395e3d6b582025-08-20T03:48:22ZengIUCNPachyderm1026-28811683-50181989-12-0112110.69649/pachyderm.v12i1.692The ecological role of elephants in AfricaDavid Western Addresses the problems associateed with ecological arguments for conserving species, and notes these arise because the ecological role of a species is rarely obvious to non-ecologists, and that it is difficult to show the consequences of losing a species until after it is gone. A number of examples of the keystone role of elephants in African ecosystems are cited. The Amboseli example in Kenya illustrates what happens to biological diversity when through time in relationship to a widely varying population of elephants. Various ecological roles of elephants such as agents of seed dispersal, creators of openings or gaps in forest areas are discuss. https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/692
spellingShingle David Western
The ecological role of elephants in Africa
Pachyderm
title The ecological role of elephants in Africa
title_full The ecological role of elephants in Africa
title_fullStr The ecological role of elephants in Africa
title_full_unstemmed The ecological role of elephants in Africa
title_short The ecological role of elephants in Africa
title_sort ecological role of elephants in africa
url https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/692
work_keys_str_mv AT davidwestern theecologicalroleofelephantsinafrica
AT davidwestern ecologicalroleofelephantsinafrica