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The Great Migration

How these connect

Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and what it relates to. Every line is an evidence-backed relation, and the arrangement is fixed — this address draws this picture, today and next year.

drives — Wildebeest distribution through the annual circuit can be reproduced from rainfall and the resulting new vegetation growthpreys_on — Crocodiles resident in Mara River pools take crossing animals at the habitual fordsflows_through — The Mara runs south-west from the Mau Escarpment through the Maasai Mara National Reserve before entering Tanzaniaflows_through — The river's middle reach crosses the northern Serengeti between the Kogatende and Lamai areasborders — The two protected areas are contiguous across the Tanzania–Kenya border and function as one ecosystem for the migratory herdsgrazes_ahead_of — Competition for food pushes zebra ahead of co-migrating wildebeest, though the two travel closer together than the classic succession model predictedgrazes_behind — Gazelle trail the large-bodied migrants by about three weeks and feed on the short, high-quality regrowth left behindmigrates_through — The northward leg of the circuit passes through the western corridor and across the Grumeti River between roughly May and Julystructures — Annual rainfall across the park runs from roughly 400–500 mm in the south-east to as much as 1,200 mm in the north-west, set by the Crater Highlands and Meru–Kilimanjaro rain shadowmonitors — The programme has maintained the wildebeest population series since 1964 and the GPS-collar dataset covering 62 animals from 1999 to 2022based_in — The programme has operated within the Serengeti since its founding by A. R. E. Sinclair in 1964bounded_by — Mechanised wheat farming, fencing and settlement on the Loita Plains outside the reserve cut the Mara–Loita wildebeest population by about 81% between 1977–78 and 2016limits — Dry-season food supply, not predation, regulated the population across the post-rinderpest irruption and the 1993–94 drought die-off of roughly 250,000 animalssustains — Grazer movement maintains grass fuel loads and fire, and soil carbon and nitrogen retention, across the ecosystem; edge degradation that compresses grazers into the core weakens all threecalves_on — The herds concentrate on the short-grass plains between roughly December and April and the large majority of births occur therepreys_on — Serengeti hyenas spend 46–62% of the year commuting from fixed den territories to whichever migratory herds are nearestcrosses — Herds ford the Mara repeatedly in both directions between roughly July and October at about a dozen habitual crossing pointsSerengeti Biodiversity ProgrammeSerengeti Biodiversity Pr…Maasai Mara National ReserveMaasai Mara National Rese…Serengeti National ParkSerengeti National ParkSerengeti–Mara Rainfall GradientSerengeti–Mara Rainfall G…Western Corridor and Grumeti ReservesWestern Corridor and Grum…Southern Serengeti Short-Grass PlainsSouthern Serengeti Short-…Mara RiverMara RiverNile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)Nile Crocodile (Crocodylu…Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)Spotted Hyena (Crocuta cr…Thomson's Gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii)Thomson's Gazelle (Eudorc…Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)Blue Wildebeest (Connocha…Plains Zebra (Equus quagga)Plains Zebra (Equus quagg…
12 drawn · 5 reachable and not drawn · positions derived from object ids, never from a simulation
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Every relation drawn, in words17
  1. Serengeti–Mara Rainfall Gradient · drives · Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)

    Wildebeest distribution through the annual circuit can be reproduced from rainfall and the resulting new vegetation growth

  2. Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) · preys_on · Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)

    Crocodiles resident in Mara River pools take crossing animals at the habitual fords

  3. Mara River · flows_through · Maasai Mara National Reserve

    The Mara runs south-west from the Mau Escarpment through the Maasai Mara National Reserve before entering Tanzania

  4. Mara River · flows_through · Serengeti National Park

    The river's middle reach crosses the northern Serengeti between the Kogatende and Lamai areas

  5. Serengeti National Park · borders · Maasai Mara National Reserve

    The two protected areas are contiguous across the Tanzania–Kenya border and function as one ecosystem for the migratory herds

  6. Plains Zebra (Equus quagga) · grazes_ahead_of · Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)

    Competition for food pushes zebra ahead of co-migrating wildebeest, though the two travel closer together than the classic succession model predicted

  7. Thomson's Gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii) · grazes_behind · Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)

    Gazelle trail the large-bodied migrants by about three weeks and feed on the short, high-quality regrowth left behind

  8. Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) · migrates_through · Western Corridor and Grumeti Reserves

    The northward leg of the circuit passes through the western corridor and across the Grumeti River between roughly May and July

  9. Serengeti–Mara Rainfall Gradient · structures · Serengeti National Park

    Annual rainfall across the park runs from roughly 400–500 mm in the south-east to as much as 1,200 mm in the north-west, set by the Crater Highlands and Meru–Kilimanjaro rain shadow

  10. Serengeti Biodiversity Programme · monitors · Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)

    The programme has maintained the wildebeest population series since 1964 and the GPS-collar dataset covering 62 animals from 1999 to 2022

  11. Serengeti Biodiversity Programme · based_in · Serengeti National Park

    The programme has operated within the Serengeti since its founding by A. R. E. Sinclair in 1964

  12. Maasai Mara National Reserve · bounded_by · Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)

    Mechanised wheat farming, fencing and settlement on the Loita Plains outside the reserve cut the Mara–Loita wildebeest population by about 81% between 1977–78 and 2016

  13. Southern Serengeti Short-Grass Plains · limits · Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)

    Dry-season food supply, not predation, regulated the population across the post-rinderpest irruption and the 1993–94 drought die-off of roughly 250,000 animals

  14. Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) · sustains · Serengeti National Park

    Grazer movement maintains grass fuel loads and fire, and soil carbon and nitrogen retention, across the ecosystem; edge degradation that compresses grazers into the core weakens all three

  15. Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) · calves_on · Southern Serengeti Short-Grass Plains

    The herds concentrate on the short-grass plains between roughly December and April and the large majority of births occur there

  16. Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) · preys_on · Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)

    Serengeti hyenas spend 46–62% of the year commuting from fixed den territories to whichever migratory herds are nearest

  17. Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) · crosses · Mara River

    Herds ford the Mara repeatedly in both directions between roughly July and October at about a dozen habitual crossing points