- Acacia and eucalyptus plantations are notorious for the ecological problems they cause.
- Yet, in southwest Karnataka, these monocultures have become crucial elephant habitats and need to be protected along with natural forest patches to minimise human–elephant conflict, suggests a study published in Tropical Conservation Science.
- In Karnataka’s Hassan and Madikeri — a landscape consisting of plantations (teak, coffee, acacia and eucalyptus), paddy fields and small, fragmented forest patches — human–elephant conflict is high.
- Reacting to this, authorities removed 22 elephants from the area in 2014.
- However, elephants from habitats nearby colonized the area again.
- With conflict rising, scientists at the Nature Conservation Foundation including Vinod Krishnan studied how the elephants — now approximately 30 in number — used 205 villages here between 2015 and 2017.
- They first tracked daily elephant movement (using direct observation and indirect signs such as dung).
- With this, they mapped the intensity of use of each village by elephants.
- However, the team found a high concentration of elephant presence in the northern part of the region in the second year.
- The logging of trees in abandoned coffee estates in the central zone, and the installation of barriers around these estates, clustered elephant presence in the north.
- This increased human–elephant conflict here, revealed an analysis of crop damage incidents and human casualties.
What about the Habitat types?
- The team also mapped elephant distribution across different habitat types (such as reserved forests, agricultural fields and monocultures of acacia and eucalyptus) to study habitat use.
- During the day, elephants preferred monoculture refuges (of acacia, teak and eucalyptus) and forest fragments, and avoided other habitats including coffee and human habitations.
- But during the night, they used coffee plantations and agricultural fields the most.
- Seasons too played a role: while elephants used forests and coffee plantations more during the dry season, they frequented agricultural fields in the wet season.
- Across the years, while the elephants’ use of monoculture refuges and coffee increased, their use of forest fragments drastically decreased (from 15% to 2%).
- In areas where natural forests have been wiped out, monocultures — which serve as refugia for elephants and help them move between habitats — could help minimize human–elephant conflict and promote coexistence between people and elephants.
- Acacia and eucalyptus plantations are notorious for the ecological problems they cause.
- Yet, in southwest Karnataka, these monocultures have become crucial elephant habitats and need to be protected along with natural forest patches to minimise human–elephant conflict, suggests a study published in Tropical Conservation Science.
- In Karnataka’s Hassan and Madikeri — a landscape consisting of plantations (teak, coffee, acacia and eucalyptus), paddy fields and small, fragmented forest patches — human–elephant conflict is high.
- Reacting to this, authorities removed 22 elephants from the area in 2014.
- However, elephants from habitats nearby colonized the area again.
- With conflict rising, scientists at the Nature Conservation Foundation including Vinod Krishnan studied how the elephants — now approximately 30 in number — used 205 villages here between 2015 and 2017.
- They first tracked daily elephant movement (using direct observation and indirect signs such as dung).
- With this, they mapped the intensity of use of each village by elephants.
- However, the team found a high concentration of elephant presence in the northern part of the region in the second year.
- The logging of trees in abandoned coffee estates in the central zone, and the installation of barriers around these estates, clustered elephant presence in the north.
- This increased human–elephant conflict here, revealed an analysis of crop damage incidents and human casualties.
What about the Habitat types?
- The team also mapped elephant distribution across different habitat types (such as reserved forests, agricultural fields and monocultures of acacia and eucalyptus) to study habitat use.
- During the day, elephants preferred monoculture refuges (of acacia, teak and eucalyptus) and forest fragments, and avoided other habitats including coffee and human habitations.
- But during the night, they used coffee plantations and agricultural fields the most.
- Seasons too played a role: while elephants used forests and coffee plantations more during the dry season, they frequented agricultural fields in the wet season.
- Across the years, while the elephants’ use of monoculture refuges and coffee increased, their use of forest fragments drastically decreased (from 15% to 2%).
- In areas where natural forests have been wiped out, monocultures — which serve as refugia for elephants and help them move between habitats — could help minimize human–elephant conflict and promote coexistence between people and elephants.
