Quantifying drivers of human-elephant conflict in an arid savanna ecosystem

非洲大陆上农业和人类住区的迅速扩张减少了大象的自然栖息地，使其支离破碎，导致剩余的大象种群被迫与人类更密切地接触。空间利用和资源竞争的更多重叠已被证明是激烈的人象冲突（HEC）的催化剂，气候变化进一步加剧了这种冲突，并对生物多样性保护和人类福祉构成重大威胁(Shaffer等人，2019,Front。生态。另一个星球)。实施大象与人类共存的有效策略需要对大象与人类的生态和社会组成部分有全面的了解，但这些通常是孤立的研究。在这里，我们将通过整合来自两个学科的数据集来使用社会生态框架来解决具有挑战性的保护问题（Collins et al. 2011 Front）。生态。环境)。该项目将探索Makgadikgadi pan国家公园（MPNP）西部边界HEC的驱动因素，该公园是博茨瓦纳HEC数量最高的地区。现有的大象分布和农作物掠夺数据将与来自运动激活相机、遥感和探索社区资源利用和对大象态度的调查的行为数据结合使用。将讨论四个关键目标：确定大象的分布和活动如何受到生态和地理变量（如栖息地类型、地形、农业和定居点）的影响。利用历史记录和遥感数据量化生境破碎化对HEC事件的影响。探索农业活动的时空模式，以及当地社区对大象和hec的看法。使用社会生态框架来确定冲突的景观驱动因素，并采用基于个人的模型来预测土地利用和气候变化对HEC的影响。产出将通过制定有效的缓解战略和指定野生动物走廊，支持利益攸关方减少HEC和改善人类福利

The rapid expansion of agriculture and human settlement across the African continent has reduced andfragmented natural elephant habitat, resulting in remaining populations being forced into closer contactwith people. Greater overlap in space use and competition for resources has proved a catalyst for intensehuman-elephant conflict (HEC), which is further exacerbated by climate change and presents a majorthreat to biodiversity conservation and human wellbeing (Shaffer et al. 2019, Front. Ecol. Evol.).Implementing effective strategies for coexistence between elephants and humans requires acomprehensive understanding of the ecological and social components of HEC but these have commonlybeen studied in isolation.Here, we will use a social-ecological framework by integrating datasets from both disciplines to address achallenging conservation issue (Collins et al. 2011 Front. Ecol. Environ.). This project will explore the driversof HEC on the western boundary of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park (MPNP), which has the highestreported HEC numbers in Botswana. Existing data on elephant distribution and crop raiding will be used inconjunction with behavioural data from motion-activated cameras, remote sensing, and surveys exploringcommunity resource-use and attitudes to elephants. Four key objectives will be addressed:1. Determine how elephant distribution and activity is influenced by ecological and geographicalvariables (e.g. habitat type, topography, agriculture and settlements).2. Quantify the influence of habitat fragmentation on HEC events using historical records and remotesensing data.3. Explore the spatiotemporal patterns of agricultural activity, and the perceptions of localcommunities with regard to elephants and HEC.4. Use a social-ecological framework to identify landscape drivers of conflict and employ individualbased modelling to predict the effects of changing land-use and climate on HEC.The outputs will support stakeholders in reducing HEC and improving human welfare through thedevelopment of effective mitigation strategies and designation of wildlife corridors