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We often observe antelopes at the water dominating eachother. Is this result to avoid competition for an important resource in arid savanna? If so, we expect niche partitioning and behavioural differences between species. Larger species competing with smaller species receive lower costs from interference behaviour and may therefore be superior to smaller ones (interference competition hypothesis). Timing on the waterhole may minimize interference and animals are expected to adjust their behaviour to do so. Water resources, especially in winter are scarce and therefore competition might be higher. We are interested in investigating the behaviour of different species of ungulate around the waterhole, testing the intereference competition hypothesis between larger and smaller species (i.e. black rhino, gnu, springbok and giraffe). We would also like to study the critically endangered black rhino as a keystone competitor.
The aim of this project is to test the interference competition hypothesis on wildlife in Kuzikus inhabiting 13 different species of ungulate. Apart from fantastic biological fieldwork, you will have the unique opportunity to observe African wildlife,
- identify 13 species of large African ungulates
- learn to distinguish by sex and age
- learn to collect behavioural data in arid savanna
| Dates (25 days all-inclusive) |
Costs in EUR p.P. |
Status |
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| 02 Jul (Mon) - 26 Jul (Thu) 2012 |
1090.- |
Project runs - 3 places left |
⇒ Apply |
Slide
Learn more...
...Valeix et al (2007). Interference competition and temporal niche shifts: elephant and herbivore communities at waterholes. Oecologica 153: 739-738.
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