Summary
-
1.
A grasshopper population was monitored for three seasons in broad leaved savanna in South Africa. The biomass at corresponding times in successive seasons varied by up to a factor of four. Climatic factors may have been responsible.
-
2.
The energetics of the grasshopper population are described for one year of intensive study. In this year a mean grasshopper biomass of 0.73 kg ha-1 ingested 94 kg ha-1 of plant material. In addition, 36 kg ha-1 was wasted in the course of feeding. Grasshoppers removed 16% of grass production, but this dropped to about 7% in the following year.
-
3.
Production efficiency and ecological efficiency were lower than those measured for grasshoppers in other systems. Reasons are suggested.
-
4.
Grasshopper diets were examined by epidermal analysis of crop fragments. All grasshopper species examined fed from a wide range of plant species, but diets could be grouped according to the physical characteristics of the food items. There was limited dietary overlap between the whole grasshopper population and large grazing mammals.
-
5.
Vegetation structure is more significant than species composition as a determinant of habitat selection within the savanna type.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Caswell H, Reed F, Stephenson SN, Werner PA (1973) Photosynthetic pathways and selective herbivory: a hypothesis. American Naturalist 107:465–480
Clarke KU (1957) On the increase in linear size during growth in Locusta migratoria L. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society London, A 32:35–39
Dirsch VM (1965) The African genera of Acridoidea. Cambridge University Press pp 579
Gandar MV (1980) The short term effects of the exclusion of large mammals and of insects in broad-leaf savanna. South African Journal of Science 76:29–31
Gandar MV (in press a) An annotated checklist of the grasshoppers (Acridiodea) on the South African Savanna Ecosystem Project study area on the Nylsvley Nature Reserve. South African National Scientific Programmes Report
Gandar MV (in press b) The behaviour and effect of a fire in Burkea africana savanna on the Nylsvley Nature Reserve. South African National Scientific Programmes Report
Gandar MV, Morgan PJK (1981) A technique for studying digestion by grasshoppers using a 103Ruthenium-labelled marker. Oikos 36:207–210
Gates DM (1962) Energy exchange in the biosphere. Harper and Row
Gillon Y (1972) The effect of bushfire on the principal acridid species of an Ivory Coast savanna. Proceedings of the Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference 11:419–471
Gillon Y (1973) Bilan energetique de la population d'Orthochtha brachynemis (Karsh) principale espece Acridienne de la Savane de Lamto (Cote d'Ivoire). Annales University Abidgan (Ecology) 6 (2):105–125
Gyllenberg G (1969) The energy flow through a Chorthippus parallelus (Zett.) (Orthoptera) population on a meadow in Tvörminne, Finland. Acta zoologica Fennica 123:1–74
Gyllenberg G (1974) A simulation model for testing the dynamics of a grasshopper population. Ecology 55:645–650
Hodge C (1933) Growth and nutrition of Melanoplus differentialis. I. Growth on a satisfactory mixed diet and on diets of single food plants. Physiological Zoology 6: 306–328
Van Hook RI (1971) Energy and nutrient dynamics of spider and orthopteran populations in a grassland ecosystem. Ecological Monographs 41:1–26
Monro RH (1979) Study on the growth, feeding and body condition of impala, Aepyceros melampus (Lichtenstein 1912). M.Sc. thesis. University of Pretoria
Odum EP, Connel CE, Davenport LB (1962) Population energy flow of three primary consumer components of old fields ecosystems. Ecology 43:88–96
Parry DA (1951) Factors determining the temperature of terrestrial arthropods in sunlight. Journal of Experimental Biology 28:445–462
Riegert PW, Varley JL (1973a) Above-ground invertebrates: II Population dynamics and biomass production of grasshoppers. Matador Project Technical Report (Canadian Committee for the IBP) 16:pp 134
Riegert PW, Varley JL (1973b) Above-ground invertebrates: III Bioenergetics of grasshoppers. Matador Project Technical Report (Canadian Committee for the IBP) 17: pp 81
Rodell CF (1977) A grasshopper model for a grassland ecosystem. Ecology 58:227–245
Smalley AE (1960) Energy flow of a salt marsh grasshopper population. Ecology 41:672–677
White TCR (1976) Weather, food and plagues of locusts. Oecologia 22:119–134
Wiegert RG (1965) The energy dynamics of the grasshopper populations in an old field and alfalfa field ecosystems. Oikos 125:161–176
Wiegert RG, Evans FC (1966) Investigations of secondary productivity in grasslands. In: K Petrusewicz (ed), Secondary productivity of terrestrial ecosystems. Warszawa-Krakow p 499–518
Zimmermann I (1979) The feeding ecology of afrikander steers (Bos indicus) on mixed bushveld at Nysvley Nature Reserve, Transvaal. M Sc. thesis. University of Pretoria
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gandar, M.V. The dynamics and trophic ecology of grasshoppers (Acridoidea) in a South African savanna. Oecologia 54, 370–378 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380006
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380006