Ecological Factors at Fine Spatial Scale Associated With Habitat Use by Tigers in Western Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal
ABSTRACT Conservation of designated source sites is a fundamental strategy for global tiger recovery. Reliable estimates of tiger Panthera tigris habitat use within these source sites are crucial for informing effective management strategies. In this study, we assessed tiger habitat use within the B...
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Wiley
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71109 |
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| author | Shyam Kumar Shah Jhamak Bahadur Karki Balram Bhatta Naresh Subedi Rabin Bahadur K. C. Rabin Kadariya Ajay Karki Umesh Paudel Babu Ram Lamichhane Arjun Thapa |
| author_facet | Shyam Kumar Shah Jhamak Bahadur Karki Balram Bhatta Naresh Subedi Rabin Bahadur K. C. Rabin Kadariya Ajay Karki Umesh Paudel Babu Ram Lamichhane Arjun Thapa |
| author_sort | Shyam Kumar Shah |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Conservation of designated source sites is a fundamental strategy for global tiger recovery. Reliable estimates of tiger Panthera tigris habitat use within these source sites are crucial for informing effective management strategies. In this study, we assessed tiger habitat use within the Bardia‐Banke Complex, one of the 42 global source sites, situated in the western Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) of Nepal. We conducted a grid‐based detection and non‐detection camera trap survey across 719 grid cells, each measuring 2 × 2 km2. To assess tiger habitat use while accounting for imperfect detectability, we applied a single‐season occupancy model. We analyzed nine covariates that have the potential to influence tiger habitat use in the Complex, including terrain, co‐predators, prey, water availability, and disturbance. We found that fine scale (2 × 2 km2) tiger habitat use in the Complex was 0.43 (SE ± 0.0085, 95% CI: 0.414–0.448). Our analysis demonstrated that tigers used habitats unevenly across the Bardia‐Banke Complex. Our results showed that the terrain ruggedness index, prey index, and proximity to waterholes were key determinants of tiger habitat use. Tiger habitat use was positively associated with prey abundance and negatively associated with terrain ruggedness and distance to waterholes. We emphasize the importance of influencing habitat covariates that determine the probability of habitat use for taking appropriate habitat‐management decisions for tiger conservation in the TAL. We highlight the importance of periodic assessment of tiger habitat use in this globally significant source site to monitor changes in spatial habitat use patterns, serving as a measure of the effectiveness of wildlife management interventions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c6c9dc7ea67542a1b76c8d5d3a2a8bc3 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
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| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-c6c9dc7ea67542a1b76c8d5d3a2a8bc32025-08-20T03:14:22ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-03-01153n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71109Ecological Factors at Fine Spatial Scale Associated With Habitat Use by Tigers in Western Terai Arc Landscape, NepalShyam Kumar Shah0Jhamak Bahadur Karki1Balram Bhatta2Naresh Subedi3Rabin Bahadur K. C.4Rabin Kadariya5Ajay Karki6Umesh Paudel7Babu Ram Lamichhane8Arjun Thapa9Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) Rampur NepalAgriculture and Forestry University (AFU) Rampur NepalAgriculture and Forestry University (AFU) Rampur NepalNational Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) Lalitpur NepalNational Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) Lalitpur NepalNational Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) Lalitpur NepalDepartment of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) Kathmandu NepalNational Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) Lalitpur NepalUSAID Biodiversity (Jal Jangal) Lalitpur NepalInstitute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Science Beijing ChinaABSTRACT Conservation of designated source sites is a fundamental strategy for global tiger recovery. Reliable estimates of tiger Panthera tigris habitat use within these source sites are crucial for informing effective management strategies. In this study, we assessed tiger habitat use within the Bardia‐Banke Complex, one of the 42 global source sites, situated in the western Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) of Nepal. We conducted a grid‐based detection and non‐detection camera trap survey across 719 grid cells, each measuring 2 × 2 km2. To assess tiger habitat use while accounting for imperfect detectability, we applied a single‐season occupancy model. We analyzed nine covariates that have the potential to influence tiger habitat use in the Complex, including terrain, co‐predators, prey, water availability, and disturbance. We found that fine scale (2 × 2 km2) tiger habitat use in the Complex was 0.43 (SE ± 0.0085, 95% CI: 0.414–0.448). Our analysis demonstrated that tigers used habitats unevenly across the Bardia‐Banke Complex. Our results showed that the terrain ruggedness index, prey index, and proximity to waterholes were key determinants of tiger habitat use. Tiger habitat use was positively associated with prey abundance and negatively associated with terrain ruggedness and distance to waterholes. We emphasize the importance of influencing habitat covariates that determine the probability of habitat use for taking appropriate habitat‐management decisions for tiger conservation in the TAL. We highlight the importance of periodic assessment of tiger habitat use in this globally significant source site to monitor changes in spatial habitat use patterns, serving as a measure of the effectiveness of wildlife management interventions.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71109Bardia–Banke complexcamera trappinghabitat useprey indexwaterholes |
| spellingShingle | Shyam Kumar Shah Jhamak Bahadur Karki Balram Bhatta Naresh Subedi Rabin Bahadur K. C. Rabin Kadariya Ajay Karki Umesh Paudel Babu Ram Lamichhane Arjun Thapa Ecological Factors at Fine Spatial Scale Associated With Habitat Use by Tigers in Western Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal Ecology and Evolution Bardia–Banke complex camera trapping habitat use prey index waterholes |
| title | Ecological Factors at Fine Spatial Scale Associated With Habitat Use by Tigers in Western Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal |
| title_full | Ecological Factors at Fine Spatial Scale Associated With Habitat Use by Tigers in Western Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal |
| title_fullStr | Ecological Factors at Fine Spatial Scale Associated With Habitat Use by Tigers in Western Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ecological Factors at Fine Spatial Scale Associated With Habitat Use by Tigers in Western Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal |
| title_short | Ecological Factors at Fine Spatial Scale Associated With Habitat Use by Tigers in Western Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal |
| title_sort | ecological factors at fine spatial scale associated with habitat use by tigers in western terai arc landscape nepal |
| topic | Bardia–Banke complex camera trapping habitat use prey index waterholes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71109 |
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