Forever Sabah, H30 Gaya Park, Lorong Muntahan 1C, Penampang Road, 88300, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 27;12(1):12830. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-16630-4.
In the Kinabatangan floodplain, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, oil palm and settlements have reduced and fragmented lowland tropical forests, home to around 200 endangered Bornean elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis). In this region, elephants range within forests, oil palm and community areas. The degree to which elephants are using these areas remains unclear. We used GPS telemetry data from 2010 to 2020 for 14 collared elephants to map their entire known ranges and highly used areas (hot spots) across four land use categories and estimate time spent within these. The use of land use types across elephants varied significantly. Typically, females had strong fidelity to forests, yet many of these forests are threatened with conversion. For the three males, and several females, they heavily used oil palm estates, and this may be due to decreased landscape permeability or foraging opportunities. At the pooled level, the entire range and hot spot extents, constituted 37% and 34% for protected areas, respectively, 8% and 11% for unprotected forests, 53% and 51% for oil palm estates, and 2% for community areas. Protecting all forested habitats and effectively managing areas outside of protected areas is necessary for the long-term survival of this population.
在马来西亚婆罗洲的京那巴登岸河漫滩平原，油棕榈种植园和居民区的扩张与发展，使得当地原本成片的低地热带雨林破碎化，而这些热带雨林正是大约 200 头濒危婆罗洲象（Elephas maximus borneensis）的家园。在这个地区，大象的活动范围涵盖森林、油棕榈种植园和居民区。但目前我们还不清楚大象在这些区域的活动程度。我们使用了 2010 年至 2020 年间 14 头佩戴项圈的大象的 GPS 遥测数据，绘制了它们在四个土地利用类别中的整个已知活动范围和高度使用区域（热点），并估算了它们在这些区域内的活动时间。大象对不同土地利用类型的使用情况存在显著差异。一般来说，雌性大象对森林有很强的依赖性，但许多森林都面临着被砍伐的威胁。对于 3 头雄性大象和一些雌性大象来说，它们大量使用油棕榈种植园，这可能是因为景观连通性降低或觅食机会减少。在综合层面上，保护区内的整个活动范围和热点区域分别占 37%和 34%，未受保护的森林分别占 8%和 11%，油棕榈种植园分别占 53%和 51%，居民区分别占 2%。为了该种群的长期生存，保护所有的森林栖息地和有效管理保护区外的区域是必要的。
