Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38919648›Full record

ArticleEcology and evolution2024

Crop use structures resource selection strategies for African elephants in a human-dominated landscape.

Nathan R Hahn, Jake Wall, Kristen Deninger-Snyder, Kate Tiedeman, Wilson Sairowua, Marc Goss, Stephan Ndambuki, Ernest Eblate, Noel Mbise, George Wittemyer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Ecology and evolution, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Nathan R HahnDepartment of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1429-6722
Jake WallDepartment of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA.
Kristen Deninger-SnyderDepartment of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA.
Kate TiedemanMax Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Konstanz Germany.
Wilson SairowuaMara Elephant Project Narok Kenya.
Marc GossMara Elephant Project Narok Kenya.
Stephan NdambukiWildlife Research and Training Institute Naivasha Kenya.
Ernest EblateWildlife Research and Training Institute Naivasha Kenya.
Noel MbiseGrumeti Fund Mugumu-Serengeti Tanzania.
George WittemyerDepartment of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1640-5355

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To conserve wide-ranging species in degraded landscapes, it is essential to understand how the behavior of animals changes in relation to the degree and composition of modification. Evidence suggests that large inter-individual variation exists in the propensity for use of degraded areas and may be driven by both behavioral and landscape factors. The use of cultivated lands by wildlife is of particular interest, given the importance of reducing human-wildlife conflicts and understanding how such areas can function as biodiversity buffers. African elephant space use can be highly influenced by human activity and the degree to which individuals crop-raid. We analyzed GPS data from 56 free-ranging elephants in the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem using resource selection functions (RSFs) to assess how crop use may drive patterns of resource selection and space use within a population. We quantified drivers of similarity in resource selection across individuals using proximity analysis of individual RSF coefficients derived from random forest models. We found wide variation in RSF coefficient values between individuals indicating strongly differentiated resource selection strategies. Proximity assessment indicated the degree of crop use in the dry season, individual repeatability, and time spent in unprotected areas drove similarity in resource selection patterns. Crop selection was also spatially structured in relation to agricultural fragmentation. In areas with low fragmentation, elephants spent less time in crops and selected most strongly for crops further from protected area boundaries, but in areas of high fragmentation, elephants spent twice as much time in crops and selected most strongly for crops closer to the protected area boundary. Our results highlight how individual differences and landscape structure can shape use of agricultural landscapes. We discuss our findings in respect to the conservation challenges of human-elephant conflict and incorporating behavioral variation into human-wildlife coexistence efforts.

Indexed as

African elephant (Loxodonta africana)GPS telemetryhuman‐wildlife interactionsmovement ecologyresource selectionspace usespatial risk

Identifiers

PMID38919648
PMCPMC11196896

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.