Habitat Connectivity for the Conservation of Small Ungulates in A Human-Dominated Landscape

Rajashekhar Niyogi,Poushali Hazra,Robert John,Mriganka Shekhar Sarkar,Subham Banerjee,Masidur Rahman

doi:10.3390/ijgi10030180

Abstract

Conserving landscape connections among favorable habitats is a widely used strategy to maintain populations in an increasingly fragmented world. A species can then exist as a metapopulation consisting of several subpopulations connected by dispersal. Our study focuses on the importance of human–wildlife coexistence areas in maintaining connectivity among primary habitats of small ungulates within and outside protected areas in a large landscape in central India. We used geospatial information and species presence data to model the suitable habitats, core habitats, and connectivity corridors for four antelope species in an ~89,000 km2 landscape. We found that about 63% of the core habitats, integrated across the four species, lie outside the protected areas. We then measured connectivity in two scenarios: the present setting, and a hypothetical future setting—where habitats outside protected areas are lost. We also modelled the areas with a high risk of human-influenced antelope mortality using eco-geographical variables and wildlife mortality records. Overall, we found that the habitats in multiple-use forests play a central role in maintaining the connectivity network for antelopes. Sizable expanses of privately held farmlands and plantations also contribute to the essential movement corridors. Some perilous patches with greater mortality risk for species require mitigation measures such as underpasses, overpasses, and fences. Greater conservation efforts are needed in the spaces of human–wildlife coexistence to conserve the habitat network of small ungulates.

Highlights

Dispersal is an essential process which allows for gene flow between populations leading to a higher genetic diversity and greater resilience toward demographic stochasticity and environmental fluctuations [1,2,3]
We found no evidence of multicollinearity among the predictor variables
Using an accuracy cutoff of 0.7 to include models, we considered all algorithms in the final ensemble model for chinkara, four-horned antelope, and nilgai

Summary

Introduction

Dispersal is an essential process which allows for gene flow between populations leading to a higher genetic diversity and greater resilience toward demographic stochasticity and environmental fluctuations [1,2,3]. Conservation outside the protected areas is a more significant challenge due to increased exposure to human-induced disturbance. In these areas, wild animals face an increased risk of poaching [8] and suffer due to habitat degradation [9] and environmental pollution [10]. Specific conservation management policies for core habitats and connectivity corridors must be formulated to create a functional metapopulation. Another challenge is that a single management approach may not work for all species of different habitat preferences and dispersal abilities. Our study would complement previous studies on habitat connectivity for carnivores in this landscape [29,30,31,32], and can help in comprehensive land-use planning

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion