The Ecology of Large Herbivores in South and Southeast Asia

About this book

Large terrestrial mammalian herbivores play critical roles in ecosystems by acting as regulators of energy and nutrient cycles, modulators of plant community composition and grassland-woodland transitions, agents of seed dispersal, and as prey for large carnivores. Though large herbivores represent a prominent component of mammalian assemblages throughout South and Southeast Asia, little is known about their roles in ecosystems in the region. The Ecology of Large Herbivores in South and Southeast Asia presents, for the first time, a collection of studies on the ecology of the rich and diverse large herbivore assemblages of South and Southeast Asia. Prepared by experts on herbivores of the region, it covers a comprehensive range of topics, including their evolutionary history, behavioural, nutritional, and population ecology, patterns of diversity across environmental gradients, roles as seed dispersers and regulators of plant growth, community compositions, and their conservation in the face of hunting and global change.

Contents

- The large herbivores of South and Southeast Asia: A prominent but neglected guild
- Evolutionary History of the Large Herbivores of South and Southeast Asia (Indomalayan Realm)
- Species richness and size distribution of large herbivores in the Himalaya
- The ecology of large herbivore browsers and grazers in tropical Asia
- Frugivory and seed dispersal by large herbivores of Asia
- Behavioural ecology of a grassland antelope, the blackbuck Antilope cervicapra: linking habitat, ecology and behaviour
- Do large herbivores influence plant allocation to above- and below-ground compartments?
- Grazing and fire effects on community and ecosystem processes in a savanna grassland ecosystem
- Density and activity patterns of the globally significant large herbivore populations of Cambodia's Eastern Plains Landscape
- Persistence of tropical Asian ungulates in the face of hunting and climate change
- The ecology of large herbivores of South and Southeast Asia: Synthesis and future directions

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