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

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.

Land Use Land/Cover Change Reduces Woody Plant Diversity and Carbon Stocks in a Lowland Coastal Forest Ecosystem, Tanzania

“…We studied the lowland tropical coastal forest (LCF) ecosystem in Tanzania, located in 5 • 0 40" and 6 • 0 40" S, 37 • 50 0" and 38 • 50 0" E in the wildlife-rich north-eastern tourist circuit ([29]; Figure 1). The area occupies approximately 5397 km 2 and spans an altitudinal gradient of approximately 875 m above sea level (masl) [26,30] around the Wami River sub-basin, which links terrestrial and marine ecosystems [30][31][32] (Figure 1). This LCF lies in one of the world's known hotspots of biological diversity, including both the Eastern Arc Mountains and coastal forest [26].…”

“…The area occupies approximately 5397 km 2 and spans an altitudinal gradient of approximately 875 m above sea level (masl) [26,30] around the Wami River sub-basin, which links terrestrial and marine ecosystems [30][31][32] (Figure 1). This LCF lies in one of the world's known hotspots of biological diversity, including both the Eastern Arc Mountains and coastal forest [26]. The mean daily temperature is 25 • C and means annual rainfall of over 1000 mm [30,33], with dry periods from July to October and wet periods from November to December and March to June.…”

“…The area is comprised of a complex mosaic land cover interspersed with human settlements and pastoralists, shifting cultivation agriculturalists, and large-scale agriculture, mainly sugar plantations in the eastern part of the ecosystem. There is a high demand for fuelwood, primarily charcoal, which poses significant challenges for plant species diversity and carbon emissions due to these anthropogenic activities [26].…”

“…In consideration of seasonality, cloud cover and phenological effects, we selected dry season remote sensing images (Landsat TM & Landsat 8) with a minimum cloud cover of <10% from Earth Explorer (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov (accessed on 25 January 2022)) from 1998, 2008, and 2018 for land use/cover (LULC) change classifications, downloaded via Google Earth Code Editor [34,35]; see also [26]. The land use prediction was carried out using open-source software QGIS version 2.18 using modules for land use change evaluation (MOLUSCE) plug-in.…”

“…It is distributed over six countries (Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi) [21], with Tanzania comprising large parts of it [21,22]. These coastal forests are fragmented, small and surrounded by resource-poor communities with a high demand for land and forest resources [23,24], and the LCF ecosystem in Tanzania faces high anthropogenic pressure, including deforestation and forest degradation [22,25,26]. It is not well known how plant diversity and associated carbon stocks are affected in this LCF system [27].…”