Factors affecting the duration of elephant dung piles in rain forest in the Lope Reserve, Gabon

Citation

White L (1995) Factors affecting the duration of elephant dung piles in rain forest in the Lope Reserve, Gabon. African Journal of Ecology, 33 (2), pp. 142-150. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2028.1995.tb00789.x

Abstract
A sample of 1282 fresh elephant dung piles was monitored regularly in rain forest in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon, over a two-year period, and the time taken to reach Stage E of Barnes & Jensen (1987) was recorded. Statistically significant differences were found in mean duration of dung piles in different months. There were negative correlations between mean dung duration and both rainfall in the previous three months and mean humidity between 1300 h and 1500 h. However, the most important factor affecting dung duration was found to be fruit content of the diet in any given month.

Keywords
dung decay; forest elephants; fruit

Journal
African Journal of Ecology: Volume 33, Issue 2