Ecological Change, Group Territoriality, and Population Dynamics in Serengeti Lions
January 17, 2005 - Packer, Craig; Hilborn, Ray; Mosser, Anna; Kissui, Bernard; Borner, Markus; Hopcraft, Grant; Wilmshurst, John; Mduma, Simon; Sinclair, Anthony R. E.
Print
EmailJournal or Book Title: Ecological Change, Group Territoriality, and Population Dynamics in Serengeti Lions
Keywords: Vertebrata; Mammalia; Carnivora; Fissipedia; Environmental factor; Population dynamics; Africa; Panthera leo; Tanzania; Simulation mode; Plant cover; Social structure; Population density; Time variation; Territorial behavior
Volume/Issue: 307/5708
Page Number(s): 390-393
Year Published: 2005
Territorial behavior is expected to buffer populations against short-term environmental perturbations, but we have found that group living in African lions causes a complex response to long-term ecological change. Despite numerous gradual changes in prey availability and vegetative cover, regional populations of Serengeti lions remained stable for 10- to 20-year periods and only shifted to new equilibria in sudden leaps. Although gradually improving environmental conditions provided sufficient resources to permit the subdivision of preexisting territories, regional lion populations did not expand until short-term conditions supplied enough prey to generate large cohorts of surviving young. The results of a simulation model show that the observed pattern of saltatory equilibria results from the lions grouping behavior.
URL: Ecological Change
DOI: 10.1126/science.1105122
Type of Publication: Journal Article