Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T20:19:00.469Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The influence of the invasive weed Lantana camara on elephant habitat use in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, southern India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2013

Gaius Wilson ,
Ajay A. Desai ,
Dalice A. Sim  and
Wayne L. Linklater
Gaius Wilson*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, New Kirk Building, Kelburn Parade, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
Ajay A. Desai
Affiliation:
84 BC Camp, Belgaum, Karnataka, 590 001, India
Dalice A. Sim
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research, Cotton Building, Kelburn Parade, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
Wayne L. Linklater
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, New Kirk Building, Kelburn Parade, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
*
1Corresponding author. Email: gaiuswilson@hotmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Invasive weeds like Lantana camara have a range of effects on animals such as elephant. These plants are not edible by the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). They also compete for space with elephant food plants and take over large areas of elephant habitat. We tested whether the addition of L. camara to a model consisting of measured environmental variables improved predictions of habitat use by elephant in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, India. Elephant dung density was used to assess elephant habitat use from 62 line transects 1-km in length. Results indicated that habitat and impact of human settlements significantly influenced elephant habitat use at a landscape scale. However, we found no evidence for the hypothesis that the addition of L. camara significantly predicted elephant habitat use at the landscape level. We then tested the association of L. camara on elephant habitat use in the dry deciduous forest (DDF) where there was a significant interaction between DDF and L. camara. In the DDF, L. camara significantly predicted elephant habitat use. We conclude that while no significant effects of L. camara were seen at the level of an entire reserve, at a finer scale and in specific habitats negative effects of this invasive plant on elephant habitat use were observed.

Keywords

anthropogenic disturbanceElephas maximuselephanthabitatinvasive weedsLantana camara
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , May 2013 , pp. 199 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

AKAIKE, H. 1973. Information theory as an extension of the maximum likelihood principle. Pp. 267–281 in Petrov, B. N. & Csàki, F. (eds.). Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Information Theory. Academiai Kiàdo, Budapest.Google Scholar
BARNES, R. F. W. & JENSEN, K. L. 1987. How to count elephants in forests. IUCN African elephant & Rhino specialist group Technical Bulletin 1:1–6.Google Scholar
BARNES, R. F. W., BARNES, K. L., ALERS, M. P. T. & BLOM, A. 1991. Man determines the distribution of elephants in the rain forests of northeastern Gabon. African Journal of Ecology 29:54–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BASKARAN, N. 1998. Ranging and resource utilization by Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus Lin.) in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Southern India. Ph.D. thesis, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappally. 138 pp.Google Scholar
BASKARAN, N., BALASUBRAMANIAN, M., SWAMINATHAN, S. & DESAI, A. A. 1995. Home range of elephants in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, South India. Pp. 296–311 in Daniel, J. C. & Datye, H. S. (eds.). A week with elephants. Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press, Bombay.Google Scholar
BASKARAN, N., UDHAYAN, A. & DESAI, A. A. 2010a. Status of the Asian elephant population in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, southern India. Gajah 32:6–13.Google Scholar
BASKARAN, N., BALASUBRAMANIAN, M., SWAMINATHAN, S. & DESAI, A. A. 2010b. Feeding ecology of the Asian elephant Elephas maximus Linnaeus in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, southern India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 107:3–13.Google Scholar
BELCHER, J. W. & WILSON, S. D. 1989. Leafy spurge and the species composition of a mixed-grass Prairie. Journal of Range Management 42:172–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BUCKLAND, S. T., ANDERSON, D. R., BURNHAM, K. P., LAAKE, J. L., BORCHERS, D. L. & THOMAS, L. 2004. Advanced distance sampling: estimating abundance of biological populations. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 434 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BURNHAM, K. P. & ANDERSON, D. R. 2002. Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretic approach. Springer-Verlag, New York. 487 pp.Google Scholar
CHAMPION, H. G. & SETH, S. K. 1968. A revised survey of the forest types of India. Government of India Press, New Delhi. 404 pp.Google Scholar
DANIEL, J. C., DESAI, A. A., SIVAGANESAN, N. & RAMESHKUMAR, S. 1987. The study of some endangered species of wildlife and their habitats – the Asian elephant. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay. 217 pp.Google Scholar
DESAI, A. A. 1991. The home range of elephants and its implications for management of the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society 88:145–156.Google Scholar
DESAI, A. A. & BASKARAN, N. 1996. Impact of human activities on the ranging behaviour of elephants in the Nilgiri Biosphere, South India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 93:559–570.Google Scholar
DITOMASO, J. M. 2000. Invasive weeds in rangelands: species, impacts, and management. Weed Science 48:255–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GENTLE, C. B. & DUGGIN, J. A. 1997. Lantana camara L. invasions in dry rainforest – open forest ecotones: the role of disturbances associated with fire and cattle grazing. Australian Journal of Ecology 22:298–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HEGYI, G. & GARAMSZEGI, L. Z. 2011. Using information theory as a substitute for stepwise regression in ecology and behavior. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 65:69–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HEIN, D. G. & MILLER, S. D. 1992. Influence of leafy spurge on forage utilization by cattle. Journal of Range Management 45:405–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LYM, R. G. & KIRBY, D. R. 1987. Cattle foraging behavior in leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula)-infested rangeland. Weed Technology 1:314–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LYM, R. G. & MESSERSMITH, C. G. 1985. Leafy spurge control and improved forage production with herbicides. Journal of Range Management 38:386–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MCCULLAGH, P. & NELDER, J. A. 1983. Generalized linear models. Chapman and Hall, London. 261 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MCKINNEY, M. L. & LOCKWOOD, J. L. 1999. Biotic homogenization: a few winners replacing many losers in the next mass extinction. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 14:450–453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
RANGANATHAN, C. R. 1941. Working plan for the Nilgiris Forest Division. Government Press, Madras. 117 pp.Google Scholar
RICHARDSON, D. M., PYSEK, P., REJMANEK, M., BARBOUR, M. G., PANETTA, F. D. & WEST, C. J. 2000. Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. Diversity and Distributions 6:93–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SHARMA, G. P., RAGHUBANSHI, A. S. & SINGH, J. S. 2005. Lantana invasion: an overview. Weed Biology and Management 5:157–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SILORI, C. S. & MISHRA, B. K. 2001. Assessment of livestock grazing pressure in and around the elephant corridors in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, South India. Biodiversity and Conservation 10:2181–2195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SIVAGANESAN, N. 1991. Ecology and conservation of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) with special reference to the habitat utilization in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu. South India. Ph.D. thesis, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappally. 140 pp.Google Scholar
SIVAGANESAN, N. & JOHNSINGH, A. J. T. 1995. Food resources crucial to the wild elephants in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, South India. Pp. 405–423 in Daniel, J. C. & Datye, H. S. (eds.). A week with elephants. Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press, Bombay.Google Scholar
SRIVASTAVA, R. K. 2009. Mudumalai Tiger Reserve management plan. Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Ootacamund. 408 pp.Google Scholar
SUKUMAR, R. 1989. The Asian Elephant: ecology and management. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 255 pp.Google Scholar
SUKUMAR, R., SURESH, H. S., DATTARAJA, H. S., JOHN, R. & JOSHI, N. V. 2004. Mudumalai forest dynamics plot, India. Pp. 551–563 in Losos, E. C. & Leigh, E. G. (eds.). Tropical forest diversity and dynamism: findings from a large-scale plot network. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
THAKUR, M. L., AHMAD, M. & THAKUR, R. K. 1992. Lantana weed (Lantana camara var. aculeata Linn.) and its possible management through natural insect pests in India. Indian Forester 118:466–488.Google Scholar
THOMAS, L., BUCKLAND, S. T., REXSTAD, E. A., LAAKE, J. L., STRINDBERG, S., HEDLEY, S. L., BISHOP, J. R. B., MARQUES, T. A. & BURNHAM, K. P. 2010. Distance software: design and analysis of distance sampling surveys for estimating population size. Journal of Applied Ecology 47:5–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
THOMPSON, M. J. 1996. Winter foraging response of elk to spotted knapweed removal. Northwest Science 70:10–19.Google Scholar
TRAMMELL, M. A. & BUTLER, J. L. 1995. Effects of exotic plants on native ungulate use of habitat. Journal of Wildlife Management 59:808–816.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VARMA, S. 2008. Spatial distribution of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and its habitat usage pattern in Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, Southern India. Current Science 94:501–506.Google Scholar
VAVRA, M., PARKS, C. G. & WISDOM, M. J. 2007. Biodiversity, exotic plant species, and herbivory: the good, the bad, and the ungulate. Forest Ecology and Management 246:66–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar