The spatial scaling of habitat selection by African elephants.

摘要: 1. Understanding and accurately predicting the spatial patterns of habitat use by organisms is important for ecological research, biodiversity conservation ecosystem management. However, this understanding complicated effects scale, because scale analysis affects quantification species-environment relationships. 2. We therefore assessed influence environmental context (i.e. characteristics landscape surrounding a site), varied over large range scales ambit radii around focal sites), on prediction selection African elephants in Kruger National Park, South Africa. 3. focused scaling elephants' response to their main resources, forage water, found that strongly depended at which was considered. Moreover, inclusion characteristic those selectivity maximized) increased predictive capacity suitability models. 4. The responded environment scale-dependent perhaps hierarchical manner, with driving coarse scales, surface water fine scales. 5. Furthermore, exhibited sexual segregation, mainly relation vegetation characteristics. Male preferred areas high tree cover low herbaceous biomass, whereas pattern reversed female elephants. 6. show distribution can be better understood predicted when relationships are explicitly This demonstrates importance considering patterning phenomena.