Volcanic Ash Soils of the Southern Plains

Assembled from 18 blocks · 2 evidence · 20 related

1. Story
2. The shallow, mineral-rich soils of the southern Serengeti plains, formed from ash deposited by the Crater Highlands volcanoes — the same deposits that make Olduvai Gorge readable. The ash is carbonatitic and leaves soils comparatively high in phosphorus and calcium, so the short grasses growing on them carry mineral concentrations that matter to a lactating female far more than bulk does. This is the standard explanation for why the herds choose the driest, least productive part of the ecosystem for calving: the grass there is not abundant, it is good.
3. Knowledge
4. Southern Serengeti Short-Grass Plains
5. Volcanic Ash Soils of the Southern Plains
6. Connections
7. Synchronised Wildebeest Calving
8. Southern Serengeti Short-Grass Plains
9. The calving pulse on the short-grass plains
10. Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)
11. Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)
12. Ngorongoro Conservation Area — Western Plains
13. Synchronised Wildebeest Calving
14. Volcanic Ash Soils of the Southern Plains
15. The calving pulse on the short-grass plains
16. Evidence
17. Establishes gazettement dates, areas and protection status for the protected areas that carry the migratory circuit
18. Wildebeest distribution through the annual circuit can be reproduced from rainfall and the resulting flush of new vegetation growth, supporting rainfall as the proximate driver of movement