Agricultural land use change drives crop-raiding of Asian elephants in a human-elephant conflict zone in Thailand

作者：Naparat Suttidate, Volker C. Radeloff, Ronglarp Sukmasuang · 发表于：Global Ecology and Conservation · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03945 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Wildlife Ecology and Conservation、Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation、Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology

Elephants often make trade-offs between crop-raiding and risk avoidance in response to land use and land cover change. Here, we investigated seasonal and temporal drivers of crop-raiding patterns of Asian elephants surrounding Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary (KARN), Thailand. We first explored crop-raiding changes from 2010-2020. We then assessed how land-use change predicted crop-raiding incidence patterns using Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) and Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) based on different elephant group types in 2010-2012, 2013-2016, and 2017-2020 time periods. Our results showed an increase in crop-raiding incidents from 6% to 69% between 2010-2012 and 2017-2020, with mixed groups raiding crops the most. Crop-raiding patterns for lone groups and mixed groups showed seasonal patterns, with incidents increasing in the dry season. Additionally, farms were particularly vulnerable to crop-raiding, with risk increasing based on the following criteria: where agricultural area covered up to 70% of a 1 km 2 , within 4 km from forest edge, within 6 km from villages, within 2 km from road, with mean elevation less than 100 meters, and with low human population density. Our findings demonstrate that different elephant group types respond to land-use changes differently, with reading patterns reflecting a trade-off between the resources abstained by crop-raiding and greater risk of human conflict. Informed land use planning surrounding the park is therefore neces...