1
|
Palei HS, Jangid AK, Hanumant DD, Palei NC, Mishra AK. On the elephant trails: habitat suitability and connectivity for Asian elephants in eastern Indian landscape. PeerJ 2024; 12:e16746. [PMID: 38562998 PMCID: PMC10984178 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Identifying suitable habitats and conserving corridors are crucial to the long-term conservation of large and conflict-prone animals. Being a flagship species, survival of Asian elephants is threatened by human-induced mortality and habitat modification. We aimed to assess the habitat suitability and connectivity of the Asian elephant Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 habitat in the state of Odisha in eastern India. We followed the ensemble of spatial prediction models using species presence data and five environmental variables. We used least-cost path and circuit theory approaches to identify the spatial connectivity between core habitats for Asian elephants. The results revealed that normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI; variable importance 42%) and terrain ruggedness (19%) are the most influential variables for predicting habitat suitability of species within the study area. Our habitat suitability map estimated 14.6% of Odisha's geographical area (c. 22,442 km2) as highly suitable and 13.3% (c. 20,464 km2) as moderate highly suitable. We identified 58 potential linkages to maintain the habitat connectivity across study area. Furthermore, we identified pinch points, bottlenecks, and high centrality links between core habitats. Our study offers management implications for long-term landscape conservation for Asian elephants in Odisha and highlights priority zones that can help maintain spatial links between elephant habitats.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ashish Kumar Jangid
- Bisalpur, Pali, Rajasthan, India
- Current affiliation: Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
2
|
Imron MA, Glass DM, Tafrichan M, Crego RD, Stabach JA, Leimgruber P. Beyond protected areas: The importance of mixed-use landscapes for the conservation of Sumatran elephants ( Elephas maximus sumatranus). Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10560. [PMID: 37780084 PMCID: PMC10539044 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 08/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Elephants were once widely distributed across the Indonesian island of Sumatra but now exist in small, isolated populations. Using the best data available on elephant occurrence, we aimed to (a) predict potential habitat suitability for elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) across the island of Sumatra and (b) model landscape connectivity among the extant elephant populations. We used direct sightings and indirect observations of elephant signs, as well as six remotely sensed proxies of surface ruggedness, vegetation productivity and structure, and human land use and disturbance, to model habitat suitability in a Google Earth Engine (GEE) environment. We validated the habitat suitability prediction using 10-fold spatial block cross validation and by calculating the area under the precision-recall curve (AUC-PR), sensitivity, and specificity for each model iteration. We also used a geolocation dataset collected from global positioning system (GPS) collars fitted on elephants as an independent validation dataset. Models showed good predictive performance with a mean AUC-PR of 0.73, sensitivity of 0.76, and specificity of 0.68. Greater than 83% of the independent GPS collar geolocations were located in predicted suitable habitat. We found human modification, surface ruggedness, and normalized difference vegetation index to be the most important variables for predicting suitable elephant habitat. Thirty-two percent, or 135,646 km2, of Sumatra's land area was predicted to be suitable habitat, with 43 patches of suitable habitat located across Sumatra. Areas with high connectivity were concentrated in the Riau and North Sumatra provinces. Though our analysis highlights the need to improve the quality of data collected on Sumatran elephants, more suitable habitat remains on Sumatra than is used by known populations. Targeted habitat conservation, especially of the suitable habitat in and around the Lamno, Balai Raja, Tesso Tenggara, Tesso Utara, Bukit Tigapuluh, Seblat, Padang Sugihan, and Bukit Barisan Selatan ranges, may improve the long-term viability of this critically endangered species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Danielle M. Glass
- Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology InstituteConservation Ecology CenterFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
| | | | - Ramiro D. Crego
- Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology InstituteConservation Ecology CenterFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
- School of Biological, Earth & Environmental SciencesUniversity College CorkCorkIreland
| | - Jared A. Stabach
- Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology InstituteConservation Ecology CenterFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
| | - Peter Leimgruber
- Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology InstituteConservation Ecology CenterFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Wettasin M, Chaiyarat R, Youngpoy N, Jieychien N, Sukmasuang R, Tanhan P. Environmental factors induced crop raiding by wild Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in the Eastern Economic Corridor, Thailand. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13388. [PMID: 37591860 PMCID: PMC10435484 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40070-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Crop raiding are an increasing concern in wildlife conservation. This study identified the environmental factors that cause wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to enter sub-urban and rural areas and share resources with humans in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) in the eastern part of Thailand. The snowball method was used to interview villagers that had crop raiding experienced in seven provinces of the EEC and adjacent provinces in the eastern part of Thailand in 2020, and data from 183 households indicated that crop raiding had increased continuously from 2000 to 2020, especially in Chonburi, Chachoengsao, and Prachinburi provinces, which have seen increases in damaged agricultural areas. MaxEnt analysis showed an increase in incidents of crop raiding, while the elephants distribution area decreased from 9534 km2 in 2000 to 5199 km2 in 2010 and 4850 km2 in 2020. The study area has had land use changes in the low elevations from croplands of cassava and sugar cane to eucalyptus, para rubber, and fruits. These mixed crop plantations provide a pseudo-habitat for wild Asian elephants. The results from this study provide evidence that changes in land use and reduction of suitable habitat are factors that influenced the movement of wild Asian elephants to the rural agricultural areas and increased the incidents of crop raiding.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maneepailin Wettasin
- Environmental Management and Technology, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand
| | - Rattanawat Chaiyarat
- Wildlife and Plant Research Center, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand.
| | - Namphung Youngpoy
- Wildlife and Plant Research Center, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand
| | - Nawee Jieychien
- Wildlife and Plant Research Center, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand
| | - Ronglarp Sukmasuang
- Department of Forest Biology, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand
| | - Phanwimol Tanhan
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Chen Y, Atzeni L, Gibson L, Sun Y, Yang Z, Shi K, Dudgeon D. Urban expansion and infrastructure development reduce habitat suitability for Asian elephants in southwestern China. J Wildl Manage 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ying Chen
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University Beijing 100083 China
- School of Biological Sciences The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China
| | - Luciano Atzeni
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University Beijing 100083 China
| | - Luke Gibson
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen 518055 China
| | - Yakuan Sun
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University Beijing 100083 China
| | - Zicheng Yang
- Kunming Institute of Survey and Design, State Forestry and Grassland Administration Kunming 650031 China
| | - Kun Shi
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation Beijing Forestry University Beijing 100083 China
- Eco‐Bridge Continental Beijing 100085 China
| | - David Dudgeon
- School of Biological Sciences The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Differential Impacts of Climatic and Land Use Changes on Habitat Suitability and Protected Area Adequacy across the Asian Elephant’s Range. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14094933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Climate change and human activities have caused dramatic impacts on biodiversity. Although a number of international agreements or initiatives have been launched to mitigate the biodiversity loss, the erosion of terrestrial biome habitats is inevitable. Consequently, the identification of potential suitable habitats under climate change and human disturbance has become an urgent task of biodiversity conservation. In this study, we used the maximum entropy model (MaxEnt) to identify the current and potential future habitats of Asian elephants in South and Southeast Asia. We performed analyses for future projections with 17 scenarios using the present results as baseline. To optimize the modelling results, we delineated the core habitats by using the Core Mapper Tool and compared them with existing protected areas (PAs) through gap analysis. The results showed that the current total area of core habitats is 491,455 km2 in size and will be reduced to 332,544 km2 by 2090 under SSP585 (the shared socioeconomic pathway). The projection analysis under differential scenarios suggested that most of the core habitats in the current protected areas would remain stable and suitable for elephants in the future. However, the remaining 75.17% of the core habitats lay outside the current PAs, and finally we mapped approximately 219,545 km2 of suitable habitats as priority protected areas in the future. Although our model did not perform well in some regions, our analyses and findings still could provide useful references to the planning of protected areas and conservation of Asian elephant.
Collapse
|
6
|
Analysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India. REMOTE SENSING 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/rs13224661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Land development has impacted natural landforms extensively, causing a decline in resources and negative consequences to elephant populations, habitats, and gene flow. Often, elephants seek to fulfill basic needs by wandering into nearby human communities, which leads to human–elephant conflict (HEC), a serious threat to conserving this endangered species. Understanding elephant space use and connectivity among their habitats can offset barriers to ecological flow among fragmented populations. We focused on the Keonjhar Forest Division in Eastern India, where HEC has resulted in the deaths of ~300 people and several hundred elephants, and damaged ~4100 houses and ~12,700 acres of cropland between 2001 and 2018. Our objectives were to (1) analyze elephant space use based on their occupancy; (2) map connectivity by considering the land structure and HEC occurrences; (3) assess the quality of mapped connectivity and identify potential bottlenecks. We found that (1) the study area has the potential to sustain a significant elephant population by providing safe connectivity; (2) variables like forests, precipitation, rural built-up areas, cropland, and transportation networks were responsible for predicting elephant presence (0.407, SE = 0.098); (3) five habitat cores, interconnected by seven corridors were identified, of which three habitat cores were vital for maintaining connectivity; (4) landscape features, such as cropland, rural built-up, mining, and transportation networks created bottlenecks that could funnel elephant movement. Our findings also indicate that overlooking HEC in connectivity assessments could lead to overestimation of functionality. The study outcomes can be utilized as a preliminary tool for decision making and early planning during development projects.
Collapse
|
7
|
Ram AK, Yadav NK, Kandel PN, Mondol S, Pandav B, Natarajan L, Subedi N, Naha D, Reddy CS, Lamichhane BR. Tracking forest loss and fragmentation between 1930 and 2020 in Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) range in Nepal. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19514. [PMID: 34593854 PMCID: PMC8484620 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98327-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Forest cover is the primary determinant of elephant distribution, thus, understanding forest loss and fragmentation is crucial for elephant conservation. We assessed deforestation and patterns of forest fragmentation between 1930 and 2020 in Chure Terai Madhesh Lanscape (CTML) which covers the entire elephant range in Nepal. Forest cover maps and fragmentation matrices were generated using multi-source data (Topographic maps and Landsat satellite images of 1930, 1975, 2000, and 2020) and spatiotemporal change was quantified. At present, 19,069 km2 forest cover in CTML is available as the elephant habitat in Nepal. Overall, 21.5% of elephant habitat was lost between 1930 and 2020, with a larger (12.3%) forest cover loss between 1930 and 1975. Area of the large forests (Core 3) has decreased by 43.08% whereas smaller patches (Core 2, Core 1, edge and patch forests) has increased multifold between 1930 and 2020. The continued habitat loss and fragmentation probably fragmented elephant populations during the last century and made them insular with long-term ramifications for elephant conservation and human-elephant conflict. Given the substantial loss in forest cover and high levels of fragmentation, improving the resilience of elephant populations in Nepal would urgently require habitat and corridor restoration to enable the movement of elephants.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ashok Kumar Ram
- Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, India.
- Ministry of Forests and Environment, Singhadurbar, Kathmandu, Nepal.
| | - Nabin Kumar Yadav
- Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment, Province 2, Janakpur, Nepal
| | | | | | | | | | - Naresh Subedi
- National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal
| | - Dipanjan Naha
- Savannah Research Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - C Sudhakar Reddy
- National Remote Sensing Centre, Indian Space Research Organization, Balanagar, Hyderabad, 500 037, India
| | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Characteristic of habitat suitability for the Asian elephant in the fragmented Ulu Jelai Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. Trop Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s42965-021-00154-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
9
|
Kimuyu DM, Kenfack D, Musili PM, Ang’ila RO. Fine‐scale habitat heterogeneity influences browsing damage by elephant and giraffe. Biotropica 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Duncan M. Kimuyu
- Department of Natural Resources Karatina University Karatina Kenya
- Mpala Research Center and Wildlife Foundation Nanyuki Kenya
| | - David Kenfack
- ForestGEO Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Washington DC USA
| | - Paul M. Musili
- East African Herbarium Botany Department National Museums of Kenya Nairobi Kenya
| | - Robert O. Ang’ila
- Mpala Research Center and Wildlife Foundation Nanyuki Kenya
- Department of Environmental Studies Karatina University Kenya
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Sharma P, Panthi S, Yadav SK, Bhatta M, Karki A, Duncan T, Poudel M, Acharya KP. Suitable habitat of wild Asian elephant in Western Terai of Nepal. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:6112-6119. [PMID: 32607217 PMCID: PMC7319151 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2019] [Revised: 04/19/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is currently very little available research on the habitat suitability, the influence of infrastructure on distribution, and the extent and connectivity of habitat available to the wild Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Information related to the habitat is crucial for conservation of this species. METHODS In this study, we identified suitable habitat for wild Asian elephants in the Western Terai region of Nepal using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) software. RESULTS Of 9,207 km2, we identified 3194.82 km2 as suitable habitat for wild Asian elephants in the study area. Approximately 40% of identified habitat occurs in existing protected areas. Most of these habitat patches are smaller than previous estimations of the species home range, and this may reduce the probability of the species continued survival in the study area. Proximity to roads was identified as the most important factor defining habitat suitability, with elephants preferring habitats far from roads. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that further habitat fragmentation in the study area can be reduced by avoiding the construction of new roads and connectivity between areas of existing suitable habitat can be increased through the identification and management of wildlife corridors between habitat patches.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Saroj Panthi
- Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest, and EnvironmentPokharaNepal
| | | | - Manoj Bhatta
- Research Institute for Environment and LivelihoodsCharles Darwin UniversityDarwinNTAustralia
| | - Ajay Karki
- Ministry of Forests and EnvironmentKathmanduNepal
| | - Tom Duncan
- Research Institute for Environment and LivelihoodsCharles Darwin UniversityDarwinNTAustralia
| | - Megharaj Poudel
- Forest Research and Training CentreBabarmahal, KathmanduNepal
| | | |
Collapse
|