Codron J. auteur aut IRD Codron D. auteur aut IRD Sponheimer M. auteur aut IRD Kirkman K. auteur aut IRD Duffy K.J. auteur aut IRD Raubenheimer E.J. auteur aut IRD Mélice Jean-Luc auteur aut IRD Grant R. auteur aut IRD Clauss M. auteur aut IRD Lee-Thorp J.A. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Longitudinal studies have revealed how variation in resource use within consumer populations can impact their dynamics and functional significance in communities. Here, we investigate multi-decadal diet variations within individuals of a keystone megaherbivore species, the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), using serial stable isotope analysis of tusks from the Kruger National Park, South Africa. These records, representing the longest continuous diet histories documented for any extant species, reveal extensive seasonal and annual variations in isotopic-and hence dietary-niches of individuals, but little variation between them. Lack of niche distinction across individuals contrasts several recent studies, which found relatively high levels of individual niche specialization in various taxa. Our result is consistent with theory that individual mammal herbivores are nutritionally constrained to maintain broad diet niches. Individual diet specialization would also be a costly strategy for large-bodied taxa foraging over wide areas in spatio-temporally heterogeneous environments. High levels of within-individual diet variability occurred within and across seasons, and persisted despite an overall increase in inferred C-4 grass consumption through the twentieth century. We suggest that switching between C-3 browsing and C-4 grazing over extended time scales facilitates elephant survival through environmental change, and could even allow recovery of overused resources. specialized C-4 grass Kruger National Park time series tusks AFRIQUE DU SUD 080 020 279 1737 2433-2441 2012 0962-8452 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010055903 10.1098/rspb.2011.2472 0962-8452 [F B010055903] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010055903 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2012/06/010055903.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2012-07-04 2017-08-23 fdi:010055903 fre