Spatial and Temporal Habitat Use of an Asian Elephant in Sumatra

Abstract

Simple SummaryA wild Sumatran elephant radio-monitored near a conservation center from August 2007–May 2008 used medium- and open-canopy land cover more than expected, but closed canopy forests were used more during the day than at night. When in closed canopy forests, elephants spent more time near the forest edge. Effective elephant conservation strategies in Sumatra need to focus on forest restoration of cleared areas and providing a forest matrix that includes various canopy types.AbstractIncreasingly, habitat fragmentation caused by agricultural and human development has forced Sumatran elephants into relatively small areas, but there is little information on how elephants use these areas and thus, how habitats can be managed to sustain elephants in the future. Using a Global Positioning System (GPS) collar and a land cover map developed from TM imagery, we identified the habitats used by a wild adult female elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) in the Seblat Elephant Conservation Center, Bengkulu Province, Sumatra during 2007–2008. The marked elephant (and presumably her 40–60 herd mates) used a home range that contained more than expected medium canopy and open canopy land cover. Further, within the home range, closed canopy forests were used more during the day than at night. When elephants were in closed canopy forests they were most often near the forest edge vs. in the forest interior. Effective elephant conservation strategies in Sumatra need to focus on forest restoration of cleared areas and providing a forest matrix that includes various canopy types.

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“…Natural forests are substantial for Asian elephants by offering foods and refuges (Evans et al, 2018;Goswami et al, 2014;Kumar et al, 2010). Of particular, our study revealed that Asian elephants prefer forest matrix rather than forest interior, which supported by previous studies (Evans et al, 2018;Sitompul et al, 2013;Wadey et al, 2018). The forest matrix and its edges provide better light conditions for the primary natural foods of Asian elephants, such as Ficus spp.…”

“…The forest matrix and its edges provide better light conditions for the primary natural foods of Asian elephants, such as Ficus spp. and gramineous plants (Chen et al, 2006;Sitompul et al, 2013;Wadey et al, 2018). Although we did not include rubber plantation as a variable in the model, it is clear that tracts of rubber plantation are not suitable for Asian elephants from the habitat suitability map (the areas along with the Mekong River, Fig.…”

“…This difference can also be found in other countries, such as India, Indonesia, and Laos (AsERSM, 2017). Despite the difference, there are mounting evidence that Asian elephants are "edge specialists" at fine scales, and disturbed forests are highly suitable for them (Evans et al, 2018;Sitompul et al, 2013;Wadey et al, 2018). On the other hand, Asian elephant is a conflict-prone species and caused extensive damages to villagers, such as crop raids, property damages, even people killings (Chen et al, 2016;Gubbi, 2012).…”

POTENSI VEGETASI DAN DAYA DUKUNG UNTUK HABITAT GAJAH SUMATERA (Elephas maximus sumatranus) DI AREAL PERKEBUNAN SAWIT DAN HUTAN PRODUKSI KECAMATAN SUNGAI MENANG, KABUPATEN OGAN KOMERING ILIR

“…Hutan juga merupakan ekosistem terbesar yang mampu mendukung berbagai ekosistem lain yang terdapat didalamnya (Nuryasin et al, 2014), dan sebagai habitat bagi satwa untuk mencari makan, berkembang biak, beristirahat, dan melakukan aktivitas lainnya untuk mempertahankan hidupnya (Yanti et al, 2017). Hilangnya hutan yang cukup luas pada dasawarsa terakhir diakibatkan oleh konversi habitat diantaranya menjadi lahan pertanian, pemukiman manusia, illegal logging dan kebakaran hutan (Sitompul et al, 2013;Abdullah et al, 2009).…”

“…Konflik tertinggi banyak ditemukan pada ruang-ruang yang digunakan bersama oleh manusia dan gajah. Banyak kasus terjadi di lahan-lahan yang sudah dikonversi dari hutan menjadi kebun sawit (Sitompul et al, 2013;Santosa et al, 2011). Konversi lahan menjadi Hutan Tanaman Industri (HTI), perkebunan dan areal transmigrasi semakin mempersempit habitat gajah Sumatera.…”