Ecological Relationships in the Serengeti National Park

The use of camera traps in animal ecology has transformed the field by allowing a greater quantity of detailed observations with limited human interference. One of largest camera trap studies published to date is from the Serengeti National Park (SNP) in Tanzania, East Africa which deployed 225 camera traps and obtained over 1.2 million pictures. This paper will focus primarily on the top predator of the Serengeti, the lion, and how it affects and is affected by prey, subordinate predators and the dramatic shift in the seasons. I asked the following three questions to better understand species relationships in the SNP: 1) Do the seasons in the SNP have an effect on the RAB of lions? 2) Does the presence or absence of lions have an effect on the RAB of hyenas in the wet season? 3) Does the presence/absence of Thompson gazelles (Eudorcas thomsonii) and impalas (Aepyceros melampus) in the wet season have an effect on the RAB of lions? During the dry and wet season of 2012 in the SNP there did not appear to be a change in the relative abundance of lions (Fig. 1), nor did lion relative abundance affect hyenas. The lions might possibly alter their diet during the dry seasons to include non-migratory species and choose not to change their territory on a season to season basis. Based on these findings research should focus on how the lions adapt to the changes in prey abundance during the wet and dry season. This preliminary analysis of the ecological dynamics of lions and associated species in the SNP is intriguing and yet raises significantly more questions than it has answered. Additional research surrounding the effects of yearly migration on the lions home territory, diet, and species interactions should be investigated more thoroughly, to greater understand the ecological relationships in the SNP. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=153 SRC="FIGDIR/small/895409v1_fig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (12K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1808f9corg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@15453beorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@145e6ceorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@341460_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOFigure 1.C_FLOATNO The relative abundance of lions in the dry and wet season in the Serengeti National Park observed by162 camera traps during 2012. Lion relative abundance (RAB) is given in units of the number of events in 100 trap nights. RAB values were determined by using motion censored cameras to identify the presence of a Lion and then disregarding all sightings for a 30-minute period following initial observation. This sighting/identification was referred to as an event. The total number of events for each camera was calculated and divided by the number of trap nights the camera was operational. The value was then multiplied by 100 to give the number of events per 100 trap nights. P-value > 0.05. C_FIG