ArticleRoyal Society open science2023
Foraging history of individual elephants using DNA metabarcoding.
Article in Royal Society open science, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Knowledge transmission, culture and the consequences of social disruption in wild elephants.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Comparing Accuracy and Biases of DNA Metabarcoding, Hybridization Capture, and Metagenomic Sequencing for Quantifying Herbivore Diets.Molecular ecology resources · 2026Article
- The Seasonal Dietary Shift and Niche Resilience of Yaks on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Elephant Driven Changes in Riverine Tree Density Exacerbated by Biological Infestation in Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves, Kenya.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Metabarcoding Reveals the Dietary Patterns of Bats Within a Unique European Habitat, the Pasture-Dominated Landscapes of Ireland.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- The apportionment of dietary diversity in wildlife.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Mass harvested per trunkload as a constraint to forage consumption by the African savanna elephant (PeerJ · 2025Article
- Body size modulates the extent of seasonal diet switching by large mammalian herbivores in Yellowstone National Park.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- Foraging history of individual elephants using DNA metabarcoding.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Individual animals should adjust diets according to food availability. We used DNA metabarcoding to construct individual-level dietary timeseries for elephants from two family groups in Kenya varying in habitat use, social position and reproductive status. We detected at least 367 dietary plant taxa, with up to 137 unique plant sequences in one fecal sample. Results matched well-established trends: elephants tended to eat more grass when it rained and other plants when dry. Nested within these switches from 'grazing' to 'browsing' strategies, dietary DNA revealed seasonal shifts in food richness, composition and overlap between individuals. Elephants of both families converged on relatively cohesive diets in dry seasons but varied in their maintenance of cohesion during wet seasons. Dietary cohesion throughout the timeseries of the subdominant 'Artists' family was stronger and more consistently positive compared to the dominant 'Royals' family. The greater degree of individuality within the dominant family's timeseries could reflect more divergent nutritional requirements associated with calf dependency and/or priority access to preferred habitats. Whereas theory predicts that individuals should specialize on different foods under resource scarcity, our data suggest family bonds may promote cohesion and foster the emergence of diverse feeding cultures reflecting links between social behaviour and nutrition.
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