Land Use/Cover Change Reduces Elephant Habitat Suitability in the Wami Mbiki–Saadani Wildlife Corridor, Tanzania

Lucas Theodori Ntukey, Linus Kasian Munishi, Edward Kohi and Anna Christina Treydte
Additional contact information
Lucas Theodori Ntukey: Department of Sustainable Agriculture, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), School of Life Sciences and Bio-Engineering, Arusha P.O. BOX 447, Tanzania
Linus Kasian Munishi: Department of Sustainable Agriculture, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), School of Life Sciences and Bio-Engineering, Arusha P.O. BOX 447, Tanzania
Edward Kohi: Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Arusha P.O. BOX 661, Tanzania
Anna Christina Treydte: Department of Sustainable Agriculture, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), School of Life Sciences and Bio-Engineering, Arusha P.O. BOX 447, Tanzania

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: Wildlife corridors are critical for maintaining the viability of isolated wildlife populations and conserving ecosystem functionality. Anthropogenic pressure has negatively impacted wildlife habitats, particularly in corridors between protected areas, but few studies have yet quantitatively assessed habitat changes and corresponding wildlife presence. We quantified land use/land cover and human–elephant conflict trends over the past two decades in the Wami Mbiki–Saadani (WMS) wildlife corridor, Tanzania, using RS and GIS combined with human–wildlife conflict reports. We designed landscape metrics and habitat suitability models for the African savanna elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) as a large mammal key species in the WMS ecosystem. Our results showed that forest cover, a highly suitable habitat for elephants, decreased by 3.0% between 1998 and 2008 and 20.3% between 2008 and 2018. Overall, the highly suitable habitat for elephants decreased by 22.4% from 1998 to 2018, when it was scarcely available and when small fragmented patches dominated the unprotected parts of the corridor. Our findings revealed that large mammalian habitat conservation requires approaches beyond habitat-loss detection and must consider other facets of landscape patterns. We suggest strengthening elephant habitat conservation through community conservation awareness, wildlife corridor mapping, and restoration practices to ensure a sustainable pathway to human–wildlife coexistence.

Keywords: remote sensing; Loxodonta africana; edge density; landscape matrix; human–elephant conflicts; wildlife corridor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/2/307/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/2/307/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:2:p:307-:d:751668

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().