Linking Elephant Movement Patterns to Vegetation Dynamics in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park

The importance of understanding elephant movement patterns in relation to vegetation conditions in their home range is for sustainable habitat management strategies.This study aims to map the movement patterns of elephants across different habitat vegetation within their home range and to correlate these patterns with vegetation metrics such as species richness, diversity, and the Importance Value Index, as well as elephant feeding preferences.The study was conducted by placing 100 plots in the home range based on the intensity of the movement of elephants in various types of vegetation; primary forest, secondary forest, shrubs, and gardens in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park.Movement data of elephants taken from GPS Collars available in WWF Lampung.Non-parametric statistical analysis using SPSS to test the significant relationship between variables (χ 2 ).The results showed that the value of species richness, diversity, and evenness in a primary forest is high.The intensity of elephant movement is lowest in primary forest when compared to secondary forest, shrubs and gardens.The implications of this research are the importance of maintaining forests for the protection and development of elephant populations and the need to map areas frequently visited by elephants.