Influence of Elephants on the Survivorship of, and Damage to, Baobabs in the Semi‐Arid Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT Baobabs are of conservation concern in protected areas in southern Africa because rates of elephant‐induced mortality, coupled with severe drought periods, may threaten to lead to local extirpation. Alternatively, baobabs may persist because of spatial refuges provided by distance from permanent water or rugged topography. Long‐term trends in damage and mortality of baobabs were assessed for Gonarezhou National Park (GNP), Zimbabwe, based on park reports and resampling of old (11–53 years) data sets. Elephant‐induced death of baobabs has been recorded since the 1960s during periods of severe drought, initially when elephant densities were not high. Since 1992, elephant density has increased from ~1 to > 2 elephants km −2 and in the same period baobab mortality has escalated. Annual mortality rates ranged from 3.8% on riverine flats to 0.2% in hills away from permanent water, but mortality was lower on rocky areas next to a river than on adjacent flat alluvial soils. Baobab trees appear not to be threatened with extirpation in GNP because hills presently offer a refuge, whereas riverine baobabs are unlikely to persist without protection. Future security of the baobab population depends on regeneration, which remains an almost unknown facet of this species population ecology.