 Reference Base  Diets of large mammals in the woodlands around Lake Karib... |
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Jarman, P.J., 1971. Diets of large mammals in the woodlands around Lake Kariba, Rhodesia. Oecologia 8: 157-178, tables 1-11
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| Location: |
Africa - Southern Africa - Zimbabwe |
| Subject: |
Ecology - Food |
| Species: |
Black Rhino |
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Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. the 242 rhinoceros feeding records that could be assigned to vegetation types are shown in Table 5. Significant differences could not be found between diets in each vegetation type. Indeed, there is a considerable similarity between the frequency of utlisation of many species in all vegetation types except Meiostemon woodland. The only eponymous species well represented in the diet from its vegetation type is Meiostemon. In the rhinoceros diet, like the elephant's, Combretum celastroides is important in the Meiostemon woodland.
Table 5. The diet selected by rhinoceros in the 5 major vegetation types.
Food Plant Combretum C.mopane Hillside Mixed Meisostemon
Woodland woodland vegetation woodl. Woodland
Meiostemon tetandrus 9.7 20.0 15.9 5.9 27.6
Combretum celastroides 3.2 0 2.9 0 13.8
Holmskioldia spinescens 11.3 10.8 23.2 29.4 6.9
Euphorbia espinosa 3.2 4.6 5.8 5.9 17.2
Boscia sp. 38.7 36.9 24.6 35.3 3.4
Strychnos innocua 8.1 1.5 4.3 5.9 10.3
Diospyros quiloensis 12.9 7.7 4.3 5.9 10.3
Combretum elaegnoides 0 1.5 8.7 0 3.4
Other species 12.9 16.9 10.1 11.8 6.9
Total of records 62 65 69 17 29
The occurrence of the eight most commonly recorded rhinoceros food plants is shown in Table 10. There is a clear change of diet from wet and early dry seasons to late dry seasons. The shrubs Holmsklida and Euphorbia espinosa and the small tree meiostemon, strogly represented in the wet season records, are replaced by the evergreen tree Diospyros quiloensis and evergreen shrubs of the genus boscia in the late dry season. Of the 29 recorded food species, 12 were recorded only in the wet season; apart from the trees mopani and Lonchocarpus sp. these were all herbs or shrubs. Three species, the early-leaving Commiphora africana, the evergreen shrub Boscia salcifolia, and Combretum apiculatum occurred in the late dry season only
Table 10. Composition of rhino diet through the year
Food Plant All year Wet Early dry Late dry
% % % %
Meiostemon tetandrus 18.7 30.0 23.7 3.4
Holmskioldia spinescens 14.8 22.0 13.6 7.9
Euphorbia espinosa 6.7 10.0 10.6 0
Strychnos innocua 5.1 5.0 4.5 5.6
Combretum celastroides 3.1 4.0 3.0 2.0
Combretum elaegnoides 3.1 3.0 3.0 3.4
Diospyros quiloensis 8.2 4.0 3.0 16.9
Boscia spp. 26.9 4.0 30.1 50.6
Total records 255 101 66 88
Total species 29 23 13 14
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