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Understanding the effect of landscape fragmentation and vegetation productivity on elephant habitat utilization in Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya
Author(s) -
Gara Tawanda W.,
Wang Tiejun,
Skidmore Andrew K.,
Zengeya Fadzai M.,
Ngene Shadrack M.,
Murwira Amon,
Ndaimani Henry
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1111/aje.12346
Subject(s) - habitat , ecosystem , fragmentation (computing) , productivity , ecology , habitat fragmentation , geography , agroforestry , vegetation (pathology) , environmental science , biology , medicine , pathology , economics , macroeconomics
Abstract Understanding factors affecting the distribution of the African elephant is important for its conservation in increasingly human‐dominated savannah landscapes. However, understanding how landscape fragmentation and vegetation productivity affect elephant habitat utilization remains poorly understood. In this study, we tested whether landscape fragmentation and vegetation productivity explain elephant habitat utilization in the Amboseli ecosystem in Kenya. We used GPS (Global Positioning System) telemetry data from five elephants to quantify elephant habitat utilization. Habitat utilization was determined by calculating the time elephants spent within a unit area. We then used generalized additive models (GAMs) to model the relationship between time density and landscape fragmentation, as well as vegetation productivity. Results show that landscape fragmentation and vegetation productivity significantly ( P < 0.05) explain elephant habitat utilization. A significant ( P < 0.05) unimodal relationship between vegetation productivity and habitat utilization was observed. Results suggest that elephants spend much of their time in less fragmented landscapes of intermediate productivity.