Land-use change is associated with multi-century loss of elephant ecosystems in Asia

Shermin de Silva; Tiffany Wu; Philip Nyhus; Ashley Weaver; Alison Thieme; Josiah Johnson; Jamie Wadey; Alexander Mossbrucker; Thinh Vu; Thy Neang; Becky Shu Chen; Melissa Songer; Peter Leimgruber

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-30650-8

Back

Land-use change is associated with multi-century loss of elephant ecosystems in Asia

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Land-use change is associated with multi-century loss of elephant ecosystems in Asia

Shermin de Silva, Tiffany Wu, Philip Nyhus, Ashley Weaver, Alison Thieme, Josiah Johnson, Jamie Wadey, Alexander Mossbrucker, Thinh Vu, Thy Neang, …

Scientific reports, Vol.13(1), Art. 5996

2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30650-8

PMID: 37105960

Files and links (1)

pdf

Published3.54 MBDownload View

CC BY V4.0, Open Access

Abstract

Animals

Asia

Biodiversity

Conservation of Natural Resources

Ecosystem

Elephants

Understanding historic patterns of land use and land cover change across large temporal and spatial scales is critical for developing effective biodiversity conservation management and policy. We quantify the extent and fragmentation of suitable habitat across the continental range of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) based on present-day occurrence data and land-use variables between 850 and 2015 A.D. We found that following centuries of relative stability, over 64% (3.36 million km2) of suitable elephant habitat across Asia was lost since the year 1700, coincident with colonial-era land-use practices in South Asia and subsequent agricultural intensification in Southeast Asia. Average patch size dropped 83% from approximately 99,000–16,000 km2 and the area occupied by the largest patch decreased 83% from ~ 4 million km2 (45% of area) to 54,000 km2 (~ 7.5% of area). Whereas 100% of the area within 100 km of the current elephant range could have been considered suitable habitat in the year 1700, over half was unsuitable by 2015, driving potential conflict with people. These losses reflect long-term decline of non-forested ecosystems, exceeding estimates of deforestation within this century. Societies must consider ecological histories in addition to proximate threats to develop more just and sustainable land-use and conservation strategies.

Details

Title: Land-use change is associated with multi-century loss of elephant ecosystems in Asia
Authors/Creators: Shermin de Silva - University of California San Diego
Tiffany Wu - Colby College
Philip Nyhus - Colby College
Ashley Weaver - Colby College
Alison Thieme - United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, USA
Josiah Johnson - Environmental Studies Program, Colby College, Waterville, ME, USA
Jamie Wadey - College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia
Alexander Mossbrucker - Frankfurt Zoological Society
Thinh Vu - Vietnam National University of Forestry
Thy Neang - Wild Earth Allies, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Becky Shu Chen - Zoological Society of London
Melissa Songer - National Zoological Park
Peter Leimgruber - National Zoological Park
Publication Details: Scientific reports, Vol.13(1), Art. 5996
Publisher: Springer Nature
Identifiers: 991005571668907891
Murdoch Affiliation: College of Environmental and Life Sciences
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: InCites

Metrics

5 File views/ downloads

167 Record Views

29 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.35 Zoology & Animal Ecology; 3.35.274 Wildlife Ecology
Web Of Science research areas: Ecology
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology