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In the Greater Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, with the Serengeti National Park (SNP) at its core, people and wildlife are strongly dependent on water supply that has a strong seasonal and inter-annual variability. The Mara River, the only perennial river in SNP, and a number of small streams originate from outside SNP before flowing through it. In those watersheds increasing grazing pressure from livestock, deforestation, irrigation and other land uses affect river flows in SNP that subsequently have impacts on wildlife. We quantified the changes since the 1970s of river discharge dynamics. We found that the baseflow recession period for the Mbalageti River has remained unchanged at 70 days, which is a natural system inside SNP. By contrast it has decreased from 100 days in the 1970s to 16 days at present for the Mara River, coinciding with increased commercial-scale irrigation in Kenya that extract Mara River water before it reaches SNP. This irrigation will result in zero flow in the river in SNP if the proposed dams in the river in Kenya are built. We observed high flash floods and prolonged periods of zero flows in streams draining livestock grazed watersheds, where severe major erosion prevails that results in gully formation. This eroded sediment is expected to silt and dry out the scattered dry season water holes in SNP, which are an important source of drinkable water for wildlife during the dry season. It appears likely that the future water supply of SNP is at risk, and this has major consequences for its people and wildlife. Ecohydrology-based solutions at the catchment scale are urgently needed to reduce catchment degradation while ensuring sustainable water provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coexistence of different species of large herbivores (ungulates) in grasslands and savannas has fascinated ecologists for decades. However, changes in climate, land‐use and trophic structure of ecosystems increasingly jeopardise the persistence of such diverse assemblages. Body size has been used successfully to explain ungulate niche differentiation with regard to food requirements and predation sensitivity. But this single trait axis insufficiently captures interspecific differences in water requirements and thermoregulatory capacity and thus sensitivity to climate change. Here, we develop a two‐dimensional trait space of body size and minimum dung moisture content that characterises the combined food and water requirements of large herbivores. From this, we predict that increased spatial homogeneity in water availability in drylands reduces the number of ungulate species that will coexist. But we also predict that extreme droughts will cause the larger, water‐dependent grazers as wildebeest, zebra and buffalo–dominant species in savanna ecosystems – to be replaced by smaller, less water‐dependent species. Subsequently, we explore how other constraints such as predation risk and thermoregulation are connected to this two‐dimensional framework. Our novel framework integrates multiple simultaneous stressors for herbivores and yields an extensive set of testable hypotheses about the expected changes in large herbivore community composition following climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions In African savannas, Macrotermes termites contribute to small-scale heterogeneity by constructing large mounds. Operating as islands of high nutrient and water availability and low fire frequency, these mounds support distinct, diverse communities of trees that have been shown to be highly attractive to browsers. However, the distinct traits of tree species on termite mounds have hardly been studied, even though this may help to understand processes determining (1) their characteristic community structure and (2) attractiveness for browsers. Here, we compare functional trait and browser preference values between tree species on and off termite mounds. Location Hluhluwe-i Mfolozi Park, Kwazulu- Natal, South Africa. Methods We recorded tree community compositions for 16 large Macrotermes natalensis mounds and 16 control plots of 100 m2 each in a paired design. For each observed tree species we measured 22 traits, related to water and nutrient use, fire tolerance, light competition and anti-herbivore defence, and compared average trait values between mound and control communities. Furthermore, we investigated the feeding preferences of ungulate browsers for the most common tree species and how this was linked to their associated traits. Results Termite mounds supported tree communities that were distinct from the surrounding savanna vegetation. Mounds hosted more evergreen and less leguminous tree species than control communities, and the dominant species were less mechanically defended, less nutritious, had larger leaves and lower wood density than the species dominating control plots. Browsers preferred leguminous tree species with high leaf N and P content, which were relatively rare on termite mounds. Conclusions Overall, we conclude that termite mounds in this savanna form small refuges for tree species that seem less adapted to fire (more evergreens), have low nutrient availability (less nitrogen fixers) and suffer from water stress (larger leaf sizes) than typical savanna trees. Surprisingly, despite their reputation as browsing hotspots, the tree species dominating mounds are less nutritious and less preferred by browsers than tree species of the surrounding savanna, which may be explained by the relatively nutrient-rich nature of this savanna or intraspecific trait differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Basic & Applied Ecology is the property of Urban & Fischer Verlag and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The sandy seabed of shallow coastal shelf seas displays morphological patterns of various dimensions. The seabed also harbors a rich ecosystem. Increasing pressure from human‐induced disturbances necessitates further study on drivers of benthic community distributions over morphological patterns. Moreover, a greater understanding of the sand ripple distribution over tidal sand waves may improve morphological model predictions. Here we analyzed the biotic abundance and ripple morphology in sand wave troughs and crests using video transects. We found that both the epibenthos and endobenthos are significantly more abundant in sand wave troughs, where ripples are less abundant and more irregularly shaped. Finally, we show that camera systems are relatively quick and effective tools to study biotic spatial patterns in relation to seabed morphology. Plain Language Summary: Coastal seabeds are important areas for human activities and constructions and are also inhabited by many organisms, collectively referred to as benthos. The interaction of tides, wind, sand and biology leads to the growth of large, rhythmic seabed patterns. They can grow up to several meters high, hundreds of meters long, and shift a few meters per year. Computer models can predict this behavior, but they lack understanding of biological processes and variations in sand ripple patterns. To increase the understanding of these effects, we present findings from two video transects, for which we lowered a video camera to the seabed and recorded both organisms and sand ripples for ~200 m. We show that, relative to crests, troughs have more benthic organisms, and sand ripples are often absent or less regularly shaped. Finally, we show that a camera is a quick and effective tool to study benthic spatial patterns. Key Points: Video transects over tidal sand waves yielded detailed spatial information of both benthic organisms and small‐scale seabed morphologyBoth epibenthos and endobenthos are more abundant in sand wave troughs compared to the crestsSand ripples are less abundant and more often irregularly shaped in the troughs, suggesting variations in seabed roughness over sand waves [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In conservation strategies of marine ecosystems, priority is given to habitat-structuring foundation species (e.g. seagrasses, mangroves and reef-building corals, shellfish) with the implicit goal to protect or restore associated communities and their interactions. However, the number and accuracy of community level metrics to measure the success of these strategies are limited. Using intertidal shellfish reefs as a model, we tested to what extent foundation species alter community and food web structure, and explored whether basic metrics of food web structure are useful indicators of ecosystem complexity compared to other often-used indices. We found that shellfish reefs strongly modified community and food web structure by modifying habitat conditions (e.g. hydrodynamics, sediment grain size). Stable isotope-based food web reconstruction captured important differences between communities from bare mudflat and shellfish reefs that did not emerge from classic abundance or diversity measures. On shellfish reefs, link density and the number of top predators were consistently higher, while both connectance and the richness of intermediate species was lower. Species richness (+ 42%), species density (+ 79%) and total biomass of benthos, fish and birds (+ 41%) was also higher on shellfish reefs, but this did not affect the Shannon diversity or Evenness. Hence, our results showed that basic food web metrics such as link density and number of top consumers and intermediate species combined with traditional measures of species richness can provide a robust tool to measure conservation and restoration success. We therefore suggest that these metrics are included as Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV), and implemented as ecosystem health indicators in legislative frameworks such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]