Migration Corridor Connectivity for Large Herbivores Across Transboundary Conservation Areas

Abstract

The proposed research examines the migration and the connectivity of the large herbivores within the Waza-Logone Transboundary Conservation Area, which includes the African elephants and the buffalo. The research determines the effect of habitat fragmentation, seasonal variations, and connectivity on the success of migration using a combination of GPS tracking and satellite imagery with network analysis. The findings indicate that elephants cover an average distance of 150km with great seasonal differences; spend a great proportion of the time in the southern habitat, mainly in the wet season, and migrate to the north in the dry season. Buffaloes move at an average of 120km with significant seasonal changes towards a water-filled western environment. Significant variance of the season on the distance of migration (p < 0.01) indicated that the race of herbivores was affected by geographic position and resource availability. The results of the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) show that habitat fragmentation and the availability of water are the major predictors of migration success. The GLM showed that habitat fragmentation and migration success ( = -0.45, p = 0.01) had a negative relationship with a R ² value of 0.75, which is a significant amount of the migration patterns, and so environmental factors (vegetation density and the closeness to water sources) were included. The network analysis also revealed that the Waza to Logone corridor had the highest centrality in the ecological network, thus the most important migration route. The results of bootstrapping supported the susceptibility of this corridor to the disruption due to human activities, including the development of infrastructure. These results provide a rationale to maintain habitat connectivity and reduce habitat fragmentation to facilitate the migration of large herbivores. This study has given essential information related to the processes of migration and the necessity of conservation measures to preserve vital corridors and eliminate the effects of the destruction of habitats.