Ecology of community reassembly: Movements and diets of megafauna during a decade of restoration in Mozambique

This dataset documents large-herbivore movement, morphology, condition,
fate, and diet during community reassembly in Gorongosa National Park,
Mozambique (2013–2023), following megafaunal declines during civil war and
subsequent restoration, including apex predator reintroductions beginning
in 2018. The study period spans substantial interannual climatic
variability, including extreme wet and dry years. The movement dataset
comprises GPS telemetry records from 277 individuals across seven
herbivore species (Cape bushbuck, nyala, greater kudu, common eland,
waterbuck, plains zebra, and African elephant), with median monitoring
durations ranging from 13 to 707 days and median location counts per
individual ranging from 1,171 to 33,122 fixes. For 302 immobilized
individuals, we provide morphological measurements (chest girth, body
length, hind-foot length, body mass), reproductive and nutritional
condition metrics (ultrasound measurements, palpation scores), and fate
data (mortality date and cause, when known). The diet dataset includes DNA
metabarcoding results from 3,785 fecal samples collected from 27 mammal
species (11 families, 7 orders), identifying 516 food-plant taxa
representing at least 87 families and 39 orders. Sample sizes per species
range from 1 to 499 (median = 92), with larger sample sizes for dominant
large herbivores (median = 216). All datasets include associated field
metadata (date, time, location, sex, age), laboratory notes, and plant
taxonomic information. In addition, filtering scripts and raw data are
provided, facilitating alternative filtering approaches. These data
support analyses of movement ecology, trophic interactions, nutritional
ecology, and large-mammal community reassembly under restoration and
climatic variability.