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Effect of ecological and anthropogenic factors on grouping patterns in African lions across Kenya.
Chege, Mumbi; Bertola, Laura D; De Snoo, Geert R; Ngene, Shadrack; Otieno, Tobias; Amoke, Irene; van 't Zelfde, Maarten; Dolrenry, Stephanie; Broekhuis, Femke; Tamis, Will; De Iongh, Hans H; Elliot, Nicholas B.
Afiliación
  • Chege M; Wildlife Research and Training Institute Naivasha Kenya.
  • Bertola LD; Institute of Environmental Sciences CML Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands.
  • De Snoo GR; Department of Biology University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark.
  • Ngene S; Institute of Environmental Sciences CML Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands.
  • Otieno T; Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) Wageningen The Netherlands.
  • Amoke I; Wildlife Research and Training Institute Naivasha Kenya.
  • van 't Zelfde M; Ewaso Lions Nairobi Kenya.
  • Dolrenry S; Kenya Wildlife Trust Nairobi Kenya.
  • Broekhuis F; Institute of Environmental Sciences CML Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands.
  • Tamis W; Lion Guardians Nairobi Kenya.
  • De Iongh HH; Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group Wageningen University and Research Wageningen The Netherlands.
  • Elliot NB; Institute of Environmental Sciences CML Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands.
Ecol Evol ; 14(2): e10982, 2024 Feb.
Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38362173
ABSTRACT
Social carnivores frequently live in fission-fusion societies, where individuals that share a common territory or home range may be found alone, in subgroups, or altogether. Absolute group size and subgroup size is expected to vary according to resource distribution, but for species that are susceptible to anthropogenic pressures, other factors may be important drivers. African lions (Panthera leo) are the only truly social felid and lion prides are characterized by fission-fusion dynamics with social groups frequently splitting and reforming, and subgroup membership can change continuously and frequently. The number of individuals in a group can be reflective of social, ecological, and anthropogenic conditions. This dynamic behavior makes understanding lion grouping patterns crucial for tailoring conservation measures. The evolution of group living in lions has been the topic of numerous studies, and we drew on these to formulate hypotheses relating to group size and subgroup size variation. Based on data collected from 199 lion groups across eight sites in Kenya, we found that group sizes were smaller when lions were closer to human settlements, suggesting that edge effects are impacting lions at a national scale. Smaller groups were also more likely when they were far from water, and were associated with very low and very high levels of non-tree vegetation. We found significant differences between the study sites, with the Maasai Mara having the largest groups (mean ± SD = 7.7 ± 4.7, range = 1-19), and Amboseli conservation area the smallest (4.3 ± 3.5, range = 1-14). While long-term studies within a single site are well suited to thoroughly differentiate between absolute group size and subgroup size, our study provides unique insight into the correlates of grouping patterns in a vulnerable species at a national scale.
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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Idioma: En Revista: Ecol Evol Año: 2024 Tipo del documento: Article Pais de publicación: Reino Unido
Texto completo
Añadir a Mi BVS
Imprimir
XML
PubMed Links
Buscar en Google

Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Idioma: En Revista: Ecol Evol Año: 2024 Tipo del documento: Article Pais de publicación: Reino Unido