ELEPHANTS, WOODLANDS AND BIODIVERSITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

When elephant densities exceed approximately 0.5 per km(2), savanna wo odlands are generally converted to shrublands oi grasslands. The impac t of such elephant-mediated habitat change on biodiversity in African game reserves has seldom been measured. We examined species richness o f woody plants, birds, bats, mantises and ants in reserves where eleph ants had destroyed the miombo woodland and in adjacent but intact miom bo woodlands outside the reserves. Species richness of woodland birds and ants was significantly lower where elephants had removed the tree canopy. Our findings may have important policy implications for conser ving biodiversity in many African reserves in the face of rapidly grow ing elephant populations (approximately 5% per annum). The problem is further compounded by international public pressures against reducing elephant densities within game reserves while, outside these protected areas, savanna woodlands and their associated faunas are being lost t o agriculture. Where then will refugia for habitat-sensitive species e xist if not within the region's largest protected areas?