Long-Distance Corridors Facilitate Asian Elephant Adaptation to Climate Change

Abstract

Amid ongoing habitat degradation and fragmentation, along with the disruption of traditional moving routes, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework underscores the urgent need to enhance species connectivity to improve their adaptability to climate change. Recent instances of long-distance movements by Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) have raised concerns about the potential for such events to become more frequent under future climate scenarios. A landscape adaptation strategy is urgently needed to improve the connectivity and integrity of Asian elephant habitats to meet their long-distance movement requirements. However, large-scale ecological networks for Asian elephants that incorporate long-distance corridors remain lacking. This study employs species distribution models and minimum resistance models to construct current and future multi-scenario ecological networks, aiming to elucidate key features of climate adaptability and priority corridor strategies for Asian elephants. Our findings indicate that long-distance corridors identified under future climate scenarios play an integral part in maintaining connectivity within the priority network. The study identifies 162 priority long-distance corridors, accounting for 25.5% of the overall network, whose lengths and importance are expected to increase. Additionally, 37.2% of these priority corridors pass through protected areas, providing guidance for optimizing existing reserves and addressing conservation gaps that cover 61.2% of the study area. The study highlights the need for habitat conservation strategies for Asian elephants to fully consider the uncertainties of dynamic spatiotemporal changes. It emphasizes the global significance of macro-scale ecological network design and the critical role of constructing long-distance corridors. Furthermore, the integration of protected areas with long-distance ecological corridors is identified as a key measure to address future uncertainties and achieve lasting biodiversity conservation.

Keywords

Asian elephant / climate adaptation / ecological corridors / ecological networks / minimum cumulative resistance model

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