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Cited by 214

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 3 of the 3 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Large carnivores make savanna tree communities less thorny

Ford, Adam T., Goheen, Jacob R., Otieno, Tobias O., Bidner, Laura, Isbell, Lynne A., Palmer, Todd M., Ward, David, Woodroffe, Rosie, Pringle, Robert M.·2014·Science

Abstract

Understanding how predation risk and plant defenses interactively shape plant distributions is a core challenge in ecology. By combining global positioning system telemetry of an abundant antelope (impala) and its main predators (leopards and wild dogs) with a series of manipulative field experiments, we showed that herbivores’ risk-avoidance behavior and plants’ antiherbivore defenses interact to determine tree distributions in an African savanna. Well-defended thorny Acacia trees ( A. etbaica ) were abundant in low-risk areas where impala aggregated but rare in high-risk areas that impala avoided. In contrast, poorly defended trees ( A. brevispica ) were more abundant in high- than in low-risk areas. Our results suggest that plants can persist in landscapes characterized by intense herbivory, either by defending themselves or by thriving in risky areas where carnivores hunt.

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Metadata

Authors
Ford, A. T., Goheen, J. R., Otieno, T. O., Bidner, L., Isbell, L. A., Palmer, T. M., Ward, D., Woodroffe, R., & Pringle, R. M.
Venue
Science
Published
2014-10-17
Volume
346
Issue
6207
Pages
346-349
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2128541299
Cited by
214
References
3
FWCI
14.82
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Large carnivores make savanna tree communities less thorny. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1126/science.1252753
The paper
Ford, A. T., Goheen, J. R., Otieno, T. O., Bidner, L., Isbell, L. A., Palmer, T. M., Ward, D., Woodroffe, R., & Pringle, R. M. (2014). Large carnivores make savanna tree communities less thorny. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1252753

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Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.