Author: Simran Prasad, Centre for Wildlife Studies
Key highlights:
- The authors investigated multiple linkages, namely the potential connectivity of a forest corridor, habitat use and livestock depredation patterns by tigers, and the congruence between connectivity and habitat use.
- Geo-spatial land cover/ land-use information, field surveys, and interview surveys were used in tandem to conduct the study in the focal landscape of central India.
- High congruence between connectivity and habitat use was identified.
- The authors stress the significance of balancing carnivore conservation efforts and local livelihood needs within shared habitats.
Habitat corridors are of great ecological importance, especially to augment conservation efforts. Corridors possess multiple benefits, which often extend to species and landscapes. Corridors are instrumental in facilitating movement, preserving genetic diversity, and increasing habitat availability to many endangered or threatened species. Carnivorous species such as the tiger Panthera tigris traverse vast areas. Approximately 70% of the global wild tiger population is in India, primarily limited to protected areas (PAs) that constitute roughly 4% of India’s land area. Due to the burgeoning human population worldwide, interactions between humans and wildlife occur more frequently. This can have an impact on the functioning of corridors, as well as their efficacy in maintaining connectivity. To optimize structural connectivity techniques that can identify corridors, researchers have endorsed species-focused approaches, such as collecting information on species presence, behavior, and movement patterns. Human influence in these natural spaces can result in isolated habitat patches, which restrict connectivity, making it imperative to conserve forest corridors.
This study focused on the unprotected forests between Kanha and Pench, located in Madhya Pradesh, to understand the attributes of corridors connecting tiger habitats in Central India. The paper examined numerous attributes, namely:
- The potential connectivity of the Kanha-Pench forest corridor.
- Habitat use by tigers.
- The occurrences of livestock depredation by tigers and the links between these three attributes.
Scientists from the Centre for Wildlife Studies, University of Florida, Wildlife Conservation Society – India, and Duke University first assessed potential connectivity of the forest corridor using remotely acquired land-use/land cover information. Next, to examine corridor use by tigers, the presence and absence of tigers were recorded. For this, trained survey teams conducted field identification of tiger scats and tracks along forest roads and trails. The links between potential connectivity and habitat use by tigers were then calculated. The areas in the geo-spatial land cover data that had the highest value indicated higher connectivity within certain sites. To predict livestock depredation patterns, interview surveys of residents within the Kanha-Pench landscape were conducted. Reported tiger presence in and around the village and any tiger-related depredation events within their household or village were collected.
The study identified high congruence between connectivity and habitat use by tigers within the Kanha-Pench landscape. However, the strong association did not reflect in areas of high livestock depredation. Further, the findings suggest that areas used by tigers frequently and that have restricted connectivity could lead to higher occurrences of human-tiger conflict events.
Interactions between humans and tigers are imperative in the context of shared habitats. Within these landscapes, there is an increasing need to prioritize both carnivore conservation and local livelihood needs. Balancing these key attributes in the context of carnivore conservation efforts can lead to numerous utilitarian benefits, many of which create functional connectivity within corridors for species movement and seek to empower local communities.
Original research article: Puri, M., Srivathsa, A., Karanth, K. K., Patel, I., Kumar, N. S. (2021). Links in a sink: Interplay between habitat structure, ecological constraints, and interactions with humans can influence connectivity conservation for tigers in forest corridors. Science of the Total Environment, 809, 151106.
You can access the original article here.
