Climate and the landscape of fear in an African savanna

1.Herbivores frequently have to make tradeoffs between two basic needs: the need to acquire forage and the need to avoid predation. One manifestation of this tradeoff is the “landscape of fear” phenomenon – wherein herbivores avoid areas of high perceived predation risk even if forage is abundant or of high quality in those areas. Although this phenomenon is well-established among invertebrates, its applicability to terrestrial large herbivores remains debated, in part because experimental evidence is scarce. 2.This study was designed to (a) experimentally test the effects of tree density – a key landscape feature associated with predation risk for African ungulates – on herbivore habitat use, and (b) establish whether habitat use patterns could be explained by tradeoffs between foraging opportunities and predation risk-avoidance. 3.In a Kenyan savanna system, replicate plots dominated by the tree Acacia drepanolobium were cleared, thinned, or left intact. Ungulate responses were measur...