Landscape connectivity for African elephants in the world's largest transfrontier conservation area: A collaborative, multi-scalar assessment

Abstract

Landscape connectivity operates at a variety of scales, depending on the geography of the area in question and the focal species or ecological process under consideration. Most connectivity studies, however, are typically focused on a single scale, which in the case of resistance-based connectivity modelling, is often the entire landscape or protected area (PA) network. This large, single-scale focus may miss areas that are important for connectivity at smaller scales and that can be documented via observed animal movements without resorting to landscape-wide statistical modelling and extrapolation approaches. Here, we characterize landscape connectivity at three different scales (local/micro, inter-PA, and landscape-wide/macro), using observed animal movements rather than conventional resistance surface models, to produce a connectivity conservation blueprint for African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier conservation area (KAZA) in southern Africa. This analysis is based on an extensive, high-resolution GPS tracking database comprising approximately 4 million GPS locations from nearly 300 tagged elephants and their associated herds. Our results show that high-fidelity elephant use of micro-corridors is typically—though not exclusively—related to directed movements towards water, often amidst heavy anthropogenic presence. Movement pathways that connected KAZA's core protected areas were longer and variable, with some channelled into narrow areas of use and others more dispersed across larger sub-landscapes. At the largest scale, a network analysis incorporating all used landscape grid cells revealed several clusters of large-scale movement corridors that connected distant parts of KAZA. Synthesis and applications: Our three scales of analyses reveal disparate geographical priorities for connectivity conservation that collectively could help ensure the functional connectivity of KAZA for its largest inhabitants. Each scale will require its own set of inter-related conservation interventions, while further research into areas with sparse data collection, and other species of conservation concern, could reveal additional connectivity priorities at each scale.