Spatial and Temporal Habitat Use of an Asian Elephant in Sumatra.

Arnold Sitompul,Nathaniel Rayl,Curtice Griffin,Todd Fuller

doi:10.3390/ani3030670

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.Increasingly, 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.

Highlights

Since the 1990s, the wild population of Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) has declined by approximately 35%, to an estimated 2,400–2,800 individuals [1]
Because elephant distribution has been positively related to core forest areas [9], and to topography and forest edges [10], there is little information on the forest types used by Sumatran elephants
Sumatran elephants likely use a variety of forest types, ranging from open land cover to closed canopy forests

Summary

Introduction

Since the 1990s, the wild population of Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) has declined by approximately 35%, to an estimated 2,400–2,800 individuals [1]. Elephants occur in 25 fragmented populations in lowland areas, and all populations are considered vulnerable to continuing habitat loss from large-scale habitat conversion resulting from agriculture, human settlement, illegal logging, and forest fires [1,2,3,4]. Continually expanding anthropogenic development brings elephants into conflict with humans [5,6], often resulting in the capture and removal of elephants by the government or poisoning by local people [3]. Conservation strategies for Sumatran elephants focus on securing elephant habitat and mitigating human-elephant conflict [5,6,7,8]. Developing effective land conservation strategies for elephants is difficult. Because elephant distribution has been positively related to core forest areas [9], and to topography (i.e., valleys) and forest edges [10], there is little information on the forest types used by Sumatran elephants

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