Open AccessPredicting range shifts of Asian elephants under global change
Author(s) -
Kanagaraj Rajapandian,
Araujo Miguel B.,
Barman Rathin,
Davidar Priya,
De Rahul,
Digal Dinesh K.,
Gopi G. V.,
Johnsingh A. J. T.,
Kakati Kashmira,
KramerSchadt Stephanie,
Lamichhane Babu R.,
Lyngdoh Salvador,
Madhusudan M. D.,
Ul Islam Najar Muneer,
Parida Jyotirmayee,
Pradhan Narendra M. B.,
Puyravaud JeanPhilippe,
Raghunath R.,
Rahim P. P. Abdul,
Muthamizh Selvan K.,
Subedi Naresh,
Trabucco Antonio,
Udayraj Swati,
Wiegand Thorsten,
Williams Amirtharaj C.,
Goyal Surendra P.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
diversity and distributions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.918
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1472-4642
pISSN - 1366-9516
DOI - 10.1111/ddi.12898
Subject(s) - climate change , species distribution , range (aeronautics) , habitat , environmental science , ecology , global change , global warming , physical geography , climatology , geography , biology , geology , materials science , composite material
Aim Climate change alters the water cycle, potentially affecting the distribution of species. Using an ensemble of species distribution models (SDMs), we predicted changes in distribution of the Asian elephant in South Asia due to increasing climatic variability under warming climate and human pressures. Location India and Nepal. Methods We compiled a comprehensive geodatabase of 115 predictor variables, which included climatic, topographic, human pressures and land use, at a resolution of 1 km 2 , and an extensive database on current distribution of elephants. For variable selection, we first developed 14 candidate models based on different hypotheses on elephant habitat selection. For each candidate model, a series of 240 individual models were evaluated using several metrics. Using three climatic and one land use change datasets for two greenhouse gas scenarios, ensemble SDMs were used to predict future projections. Results Nine predictor variables were selected for ensemble SDMs. Elephant distribution is driven predominantly by changes in climatic water balance (>60%), followed by changes in temperature and human‐induced disturbance. The results suggest that around 41.8% of the 256,518 km 2 of habitat available at present will be lost by the end of this century due to combined effects of climate change and human pressure. Projected habitat loss will be higher in human‐dominated sites at lower elevations due to intensifying droughts, leading elephants to seek refuge at higher elevations along valleys with greater water availability in the Himalayan Mountains. Main conclusions Changes in climatic water balance could play a crucial role in driving species distributions in regions with monsoonal climates. In response, species would shift their range upwards along gradients of water availability and seasonal droughts. Conservation and management of elephant populations under global change should include design of movement corridors to enable dispersal of the elephant and other associated species to more conducive environments.