A Multi‐Factor Habitat Suitability Model for Asian Elephants in the Greater Mekong Subregion: Effects of Vegetation and Climate

The habitat suitability of the endangered Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ) is commonly assessed using climatic and topographic variables, whereas food‐plant resources are rarely incorporated explicitly into regional‐scale species distribution models. Here, we developed a comparative modeling framework to evaluate how the inclusion of food‐plant resource layers modifies Asian elephant habitat suitability predictions under current and future climate scenarios. (1) The model incorporating food‐plant variables produced a more restricted and spatially concentrated pattern of suitable habitat than the model excluding food‐plant variables. (2) This contrast suggests that climate‐dominated models may overestimate usable habitat in areas where key forage resources are limited or absent. (3) In addition, piecewise SEM suggested that the associations among climate, topography, food‐plant resources, and predicted habitat suitability varied along latitudinal gradients. These findings indicate that food‐plant resource layers can refine climate‐based habitat suitability assessments by distinguishing broad climatic suitability from more realistic resource‐based suitability. Conservation planning should therefore integrate food‐plant restoration, habitat connectivity, and climate adaptation to improve habitat management and reduce human‐elephant conflict.