Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25470495›Full record

ArticlePloS one2014

Seasonal patterns of mixed species groups in large East African mammals.

Christian Kiffner, John Kioko, Cecilia Leweri, Stefan Krause

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Zebra stripes: the questions raised by the answers.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025
    Review
  3. First Report of a Common Dolphin (Ecology and evolution · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Identifying the social context of single- and mixed-species group formation in large African herbivores.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Diurnal and Nocturnal Behaviour of Cheetahs (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Mixed-species herding levels the landscape of fear.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2020
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Christian KiffnerCentre For Wildlife Management Studies, The School For Field Studies, Karatu, Tanzania.
John KiokoCentre For Wildlife Management Studies, The School For Field Studies, Karatu, Tanzania.
Cecilia LeweriCentre For Wildlife Management Studies, The School For Field Studies, Karatu, Tanzania; Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Arusha, Tanzania.
Stefan KrauseLübeck University of Applied Sciences, Lübeck, Germany.
School for Field Studies · USTanzania Wildlife Research Institute · TZTechnical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mixed mammal species groups are common in East African savannah ecosystems. Yet, it is largely unknown if co-occurrences of large mammals result from random processes or social preferences and if interspecific associations are consistent across ecosystems and seasons. Because species may exchange important information and services, understanding patterns and drivers of heterospecific interactions is crucial for advancing animal and community ecology. We recorded 5403 single and multi-species clusters in the Serengeti-Ngorongoro and Tarangire-Manyara ecosystems during dry and wet seasons and used social network analyses to detect patterns of species associations. We found statistically significant associations between multiple species and association patterns differed spatially and seasonally. Consistently, wildebeest and zebras preferred being associated with other species, whereas carnivores, African elephants, Maasai giraffes and Kirk's dik-diks avoided being in mixed groups. During the dry season, we found that the betweenness (a measure of importance in the flow of information or disease) of species did not differ from a random expectation based on species abundance. In contrast, in the wet season, we found that these patterns were not simply explained by variations in abundances, suggesting that heterospecific associations were actively formed. These seasonal differences in observed patterns suggest that interspecific associations may be driven by resource overlap when resources are limited and by resource partitioning or anti-predator advantages when resources are abundant. We discuss potential mechanisms that could drive seasonal variation in the cost-benefit tradeoffs that underpin the formation of mixed-species groups.

Indexed as

Behavior, AnimalEcosystemAfrica, EasternAnimalsMammalsModels, BiologicalSeasonsSpecies Specificity

Identifiers

PMID25470495
PMCPMC4254287
OpenAlexW2054103272

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.