Seasonal habitat selection by eland in arid savanna in southern Africa

Abstract

The small scale seasonal habitat selection of eland in a semi-arid savanna was investigated. Linear discriminant functions and suitability index curves were calculated to differentiate between 314 m² plots where eland were present and absent. Biological explanations were sought for the results. In winter eland relied on woody evergreen plants, while in summer they selected patches with good grass cover. Eland were independent of shelter and cover in both seasons. The ability of the discriminant functions to predict the presence and absence of eland was validated by classifying independent habitat samples. The functions were found to be reliable.