Analysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India

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...

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Autores principales:	Bismay Ranjan Tripathy, Xuehua Liu, Melissa Songer, Babar Zahoor, W. M. S. Wickramasinghe, Kirti Kumar Mahanta
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	landscape connectivity least-resistant paths habitat core Asian elephant (<i>Elephas maximus</i>) human–elephant conflict movement barrier Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2c132e23bf424cdba52aa79ee98dcf85
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2c132e23bf424cdba52aa79ee98dcf852021-11-25T18:55:12ZAnalysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India10.3390/rs132246612072-4292https://doaj.org/article/2c132e23bf424cdba52aa79ee98dcf852021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/22/4661https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292Land 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.Bismay Ranjan TripathyXuehua LiuMelissa SongerBabar ZahoorW. M. S. WickramasingheKirti Kumar MahantaMDPI AGarticlelandscape connectivityleast-resistant pathshabitat coreAsian elephant (<i>Elephas maximus</i>)human–elephant conflictmovement barrierScienceQENRemote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 4661, p 4661 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	landscape connectivity least-resistant paths habitat core Asian elephant (<i>Elephas maximus</i>) human–elephant conflict movement barrier Science Q
spellingShingle	landscape connectivity least-resistant paths habitat core Asian elephant (<i>Elephas maximus</i>) human–elephant conflict movement barrier Science Q Bismay Ranjan Tripathy Xuehua Liu Melissa Songer Babar Zahoor W. M. S. Wickramasinghe Kirti Kumar Mahanta Analysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India
description	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.
format	article
author	Bismay Ranjan Tripathy Xuehua Liu Melissa Songer Babar Zahoor W. M. S. Wickramasinghe Kirti Kumar Mahanta
author_facet	Bismay Ranjan Tripathy Xuehua Liu Melissa Songer Babar Zahoor W. M. S. Wickramasinghe Kirti Kumar Mahanta
author_sort	Bismay Ranjan Tripathy
title	Analysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India
title_short	Analysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India
title_full	Analysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India
title_fullStr	Analysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India
title_full_unstemmed	Analysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India
title_sort	analysis of landscape connectivity among the habitats of asian elephants in keonjhar forest division, india
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/2c132e23bf424cdba52aa79ee98dcf85
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Analysis of Landscape Connectivity among the Habitats of Asian Elephants in Keonjhar Forest Division, India

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