Abstract
We examined the relationship between the presence or absence of elephants in patches of land and the most common ecological factors, such as fodder species, water bodies, resting places, elephant movement trails, and soil types, across ten transect sites in the Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS), Bangladesh. By ground-truthing 360 line transects and 1080 quadrate blocks, we recorded a total of 184 fodder species, including 71 monocotyledons, 58 dicotyledons, and 55 domesticated plant species. Three categories of domesticated fodder species were recorded that consisted of 13 cultivated crops, 24 vegetables, and 18 homestead garden plants. We also applied dung-pile dissection techniques to a total of 250 dung piles between August 2018 and July 2019. Highly statistically significant differences among the abundances of different fodder species and presence of elephants were found across different transect sites. The average fodder species density was found to be 3.44 plant species per site per km2, while the elephant density was 0.63 individuals per site per km2. A significant strong correlation was found between fodder species density and the number of elephants among the transect sites (P = 0.02). The numbers of ground-recorded fodder species were higher than those found in dung piles. The presence of elephants across transect sites was influenced not only by fodder species but also by other ecological factors, such as water bodies, resting places, movement trails, and soil types.
Highlights
The presence of elephants in an area depends on its characteristics
A total of 184 fodder species were recorded in elephant faeces, which included 129 natural species, such as monocotyledons (N = 71) and dicotyledons (N = 58)
Our results indicate that fodder species, water bodies, resting places, feeding trials, and soil types are the dominant ecological factors that determine the presence of elephants in the Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS)
Summary
The presence of elephants in an area depends on its characteristics Some ecological factors, such as the availability of fodder species, perennial water sources, access to free feeding trails, and undisturbed resting places, are prime requirements for high-quality sites (Desi, 1991; Hedges, Tyson, Sitompul, Gunaryadi, & Aslan, 2005). The availability of different fodder species, density, and evenness, which are regulated by soil nutrients, pH balance, and soil texture along with topographical features and meteorological parameters (e.g., temperature, rainfall, and moisture), are the main characteristics of a habitat (Sukumar, 1990; Vacaylenberg, 1977; Guy, 1975; Jachman, 1983; and Douglas & Sheldrick, 1964). Disturbance-free interactions among the diversified biotic and abiotic factors in a habitat can ensure healthy ecological conditions that provide good relationships between fodder and their feeders (Sukumar, 2006). Nutrient flows in habitats promote elephant forage quality ijb.ccsenet.org
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