Serengeti: The origins and future of a complex ecosystem
Principal Investigators:
Craig Packer, and Stephen Polasky
The Serengeti ecosystem exemplifies a number of general features of terrestrial food web dynamics and can therefore be viewed as a model system for studying a complex interplay of basic ecological principles. These include: (1) the diverse roles of generalist top predators in governing coexistence in prey communities, (2) the importance of omnivory and intraguild predation in modulating the magnitude of 'top-down' impacts of predators, (3) trophic cascades; (4) the implications of movement, landscape pattern, and spatial heterogeneity for food web... more
The Serengeti ecosystem exemplifies a number of general features of terrestrial food web dynamics and can therefore be viewed as a model system for studying a complex interplay of basic ecological principles. These include: (1) the diverse roles of generalist top predators in governing coexistence in prey communities, (2) the importance of omnivory and intraguild predation in modulating the magnitude of 'top-down' impacts of predators, (3) trophic cascades; (4) the implications of movement, landscape pattern, and spatial heterogeneity for food web dynamics, and, (5) the impact of temporal variation on stability and species composition of local communities. The Serengeti, like many ecosystems, is subject to increasing human use. Understanding human behavior and the links between humans and the ecosystem provides a necessary foundation for conservation.
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Participants and Meetings
| Activity | Dates | Further Information |
|---|---|---|
| Working Group | 11th—16th October 2001 | Participant List |
| Graduate Student | 1st January—31st May 2002 | Participant List |
| Working Group | 26th September—3rd October 2002 | Participant List |
Participant Contact Information
| Peter A. Abrams | peter.abrams@utoronto.ca | University of Toronto |
| Feetham Banyikwa | feeban@africaonline.co.tz | University of Dar-es-Salaam |
| Chris Barrett | cbb2@cornell.edu | Cornell University |
| Christopher Costello | costello@bren.ucsb.edu | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Michael B. Coughenour | mikec@nrel.colostate.edu | Colorado State University |
| Andrew P. Dobson | dobber@princeton.edu | Princeton University |
| John M. Fryxell | jfryxell@uoguelph.ca | University of Guelph |
| Kathy Galvin | kathy@nrel.colostate.edu | Colorado State University |
| Emmanuel Gereta | e.gereta@habari.co.tz | Tanzania National Parks |
| Ray Hilborn | hilbornr@gmail.com | University of Washington |
| Robert D. Holt | rdholt@ufl.edu | University of Kansas |
| Tristan S. Kimbrell | kimbrell@ufl.edu | |
| Peter Little | Peter.little@emory.edu | |
| Samuel McNaughton | sjmcnaug@mailbox.syr.edu | Syracuse University |
| Simon A. R. Mduma | mduma@habari.co.tz | Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute |
| Charles Mlingwa | tawiri@habari.co.tz | Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute |
| Han Olff | h.olff@biol.rug.nl | |
| Craig Packer | packer@biosci.umn.edu | University of Minnesota, Twin Cities |
| Stephen Polasky | polasky@umn.edu | University of Minnesota, Twin Cities |
| Mark Ritchie | meritchi@syr.edu | Utah State University |
| Victor Runyoro | ncaa_faru@cybernet.co.tz | Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority |
| Anthony R. E. Sinclair | sinclair@zoology.ubc.ca | University of British Columbia |
| Rob Slotow | slotow@nu.ac.za | University of Natal |
| Stephanie Ewalt | stephewalt@hotmail.com | Colorado State University |
| Gericke Sommerville | gericke@nrel.colostate.edu | Colorado State University |
| Markus Borner | markusborner@fzo.org | Frankfurt Zoological Society |
| Sarah Cleaveland | scleaveland@vet.ed.ac.uk | Unknown |
| Douglas Donalson | ddonals@calstatela.edu | California State University, Los Angeles |
| Sarah Durant | s.Durant@ucl.ac.uk | Zoological Society of London |
| Titus Mlengeya | tanapavet@africaonline.co.tz | Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) Vet |
| Linda Munson | lmunson@ucdavis.edu | University of California, Davis |
| Ephraim Mwangomo | mwangomo@hotmail.com | Washington State University |
| Cassandra Nunez |
Products: Publications, Reports, Datasets, Presentations, Visualizations
| Type | Products of NCEAS Research |
|---|---|
| Journal Article | Dobson, Andrew P. 2009. Food-web structure and ecosystem services: Insights from the Serengeti. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Vol: 364. Pages 1665-1682. (Online version) |
| Journal Article | Fryxell, John M.; Wilmshurst, John F.; Sinclair, Anthony R. E. 2004. Predictive models of movement by Serengeti grazers. Ecology. Vol: 85(9). Pages 2429-2435. |
| Journal Article | Fryxell, John M.; Wilmshurst, John F.; Sinclair, Anthony R. E.; Haydon, Daniel T.; Holt, Robert D.; Abrams, Peter A. 2005. Landscape scale, heterogeneity, and the viability of Serengeti grazers. Ecology Letters. Vol: 8(3). Pages 328-335. |
| Journal Article | Holdo, Ricardo M.; Holt, Robert D.; Fryxell, John M. 2009. Opposing rainfall and plant nutritional gradients best explain the wildebeest migration in the Serengeti. American Naturalist. Vol: 173(4). Pages 431-445. (Online version) |
| Journal Article | Packer, Craig; Hilborn, Ray; Mosser, Anna; Kissui, Bernard; Borner, Markus; Hopcraft, Grant; Wilmshurst, John F.; Mduma, Simon A. R.; Sinclair, Anthony R. E. 2005. Ecological change, group territoriality, and population dynamics in Serengeti lions. Science. Vol: 307. Pages 390-393. |
| Data Set | Packer, Craig; Mduma, Simon A. R.; Coughenour, Michael B.; Ritchie, Mark. 2006. Serengeti ecosystem. (Abstract) (Online version) |
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Additional Info
"Serengeti: The origins and future of a complex ecosystem" is project ID: 4180