Habitat use responses of the African leopard in a human-disturbed region of rural Mozambique

Strampelli, Paolo; Andresen, Leah; Everatt, Kristoffer T.; Somers, Michael J.; Rowcliffe, J. Marcus

doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2017.12.003

Cited by 35 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Our findings corroborate other studies that highlight the importance of natural habitats and wild prey availability for leopards (Khorozyan, 2003;Khorozyan, Malkhasyan & Abramov, 2008;Wang et al, 2017;Abade et al, 2018;Strampelli et al, 2018). The probability of leopard space use was positively associated with the proportion of natural habitat in the sampling unit and declined with an increase in the area of unirrigated agricultural lands (Fig.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Our results show that leopard space use is overwhelmingly influenced by the proportion of natural habitat and presence of large wild prey within sampling units and that they are still vital for the survival of leopards, an adaptable and vagile species. Our findings corroborate other studies that highlight the importance of natural habitats and wild prey availability for leopards ( Khorozyan, 2003 ; Khorozyan, Malkhasyan & Abramov, 2008 ; Wang et al, 2017 ; Abade et al, 2018 ; Strampelli et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

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Every hill has its leopard: patterns of space use by leopards (Panthera pardus) in a mixed use landscape in India

Gubbi

Sharma

Kumara

2020

PeerJ

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Understanding abundance and distribution of species is often necessary for wildlife conservation. However, elusive species such as the leopard (Panthera pardus) that have wide geographical distribution and typically low abundance pose a constant challenge to conservationists due to logistical and methodological constraints. Although leopard abundance has been estimated at the scale of protected areas or other smaller regions, reliable information describing leopard distribution over large spatial scales remains largely unavailable. Knowledge about space use by leopards within landscapes could help improve conservation management, reduce human-wildlife conflict, and also facilitate population status monitoring. We carried out occupancy surveys across c. 24,000 km2 in southern India in a landscape that consisted a mosaic of leopards’ natural habitats and highly human-dominated areas. We investigated the effects of key ecological and anthropogenic variables in determining leopard space use patterns. We addressed imperfect detections obtained using sign surveys conducted on spatially replicated transects within sampling units by modeling detection as a function of spatial auto-correlation and covariates. Our results show that the probability of site-use by leopards across the landscape varied between 0.02 (95% CI [0.01–0.09]) and 0.99 (95% CI [0.99–1.0]) across the study area. The best model (AIC weight = 0.97) showed that the probability of leopard space use was affected by the proportion of natural habitats and the presence of large wild prey in the sampling unit. Given that India is undergoing rapid modifications due to economic changes and demand for natural resources, we emphasize the need for landscape-based approach for conserving and monitoring leopards. We argue that leopards are an indicator of functional ecosystems represented by scrub, deciduous forest and rocky outcrops that do not always get prioritized for conservation, unlike densely forested habitats. Similarly, conservation of natural large wild prey, especially outside the protected area system, should assume greater importance, which could also have a positive impact on reducing human-leopard conflict.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Every hill has its leopard: patterns of space use by leopards (Panthera pardus) in a mixed use landscape in India

Gubbi

Sharma

Kumara

2020

PeerJ

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“…We adopted a survey design that is appropriate for investigating habitat use by felids (Davis et al, 2011; Sunarto et al, 2012; Everatt et al, 2015; Strampelli, 2015; Alexander et al, 2016). Despite felids being wide-ranging, our models showed no overdispersion, suggesting that our data were not affected by spatial autocorrelation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We placed the cameras at regular intervals of 1.6 ± 0.3 km (Fig. 1), which is considered appropriate to investigate habitat use by felids (Davis et al, 2011; Sunarto et al, 2012; Everatt et al, 2015; Strampelli, 2015; Alexander et al, 2016). When we reached the appropriate distance from the previous camera, we placed the next camera within a radius of 200 m at a location likely to maximize felid encounters (i.e.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conserving predators across agricultural landscapes in Colombia: habitat use and space partitioning by jaguars, pumas, ocelots and jaguarundis

Boron

Xofis²,

Link

et al. 2018

Oryx

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Loss and degradation of natural habitats continue to increase across the tropics as a result of agricultural expansion. Consequently, there is an urgent need to understand their effects, and the distribution and habitat requirements of wildlife within human-modified landscapes, to support the conservation of threatened species, such as felids. We combined camera trapping and land cover data into occupancy models to study the habitat use and space partitioning by four sympatric felid species in an agricultural landscape in Colombia. Land use in the area includes cattle ranching and oil palm cultivation, the latter being an emerging land use type in the Neotropics. Factors determining species occupancy were the presence of wetlands for jaguars (positive effect); water proximity for pumas (positive effect); and presence of pastures for ocelots and jaguarundis (negative effect). Only ocelots were occasionally recorded in oil palm areas. Our results suggest that to align development with the conservation of top predators it is crucial to maintain areas of forest and wetland across agricultural landscapes and to restrict agricultural and oil palm expansion to modified areas such as pastures, which are of limited conservation value. Because there is no spatial segregation between the felid species we studied, conservation strategies that benefit all of them are possible even in modified landscapes.

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“…We first tested the effects of the covariates on the detection probability (p), whilst keeping the occupancy process (ψ) constant and over parameterized (all relevant habitat classes included as occupancy predictors, e.g. Strampelli et al 2018). Covariates were tested both individually and in combination with the null model (p(.…”

Section: Occupancy Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The value of by-catch data: how species-specific surveys can serve non-target species

2019

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Camera trapping has a wide range of research application but, while research designs are often focused on the study of a single focal species, cameras can also record other non-target species. Occupancy modelling using bycatch data can be a valuable resource to gain information on these species maximizing the scientific effort and efficiency of wildlife surveys. In this study we used by-catch data from a European wildcat (Felis sylvestris sylvestris) survey in Southern Italy to assess the habitat covariates determinant for the occupancy of the crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata). We recorded 33 detections at 17 out of 51 cameras (naïve occupancy = 0.33). The best models fitted the data well and porcupine occupancy estimate was 0.58 (SE ± 0.09) with a detection probability of 0.11 (SE ± 0.03). Average model showed that woodlands and number of shrub patches increased porcupine occupancy, while the reverse was true for altitude. Our results have improved the insights on the habitat use and ecological needs of this understudied species and it is the first study that develops occupancy models for the porcupine using presence/absence data obtained from a camera trap survey. Our study is an example of how camera trap surveys are often an under-exploited source of valuable information on a wider spectrum of sympatric species beyond the focal species for which camera traps were deployed. Minimum requirements for a camera trap survey to provide robust occupancy estimates for non-target species are discussed.

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Habitat use responses of the African leopard in a human-disturbed region of rural Mozambique

Cited by 35 publications

References 34 publications

Every hill has its leopard: patterns of space use by leopards (Panthera pardus) in a mixed use landscape in India

Every hill has its leopard: patterns of space use by leopards (Panthera pardus) in a mixed use landscape in India

Conserving predators across agricultural landscapes in Colombia: habitat use and space partitioning by jaguars, pumas, ocelots and jaguarundis

The value of by-catch data: how species-specific surveys can serve non-target species

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