Habitats with co-benefits: Site-use patterns and connectivity potential of river networks for Asian elephants.

The Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ) is globally threatened due to habitat loss and fragmentation. While increasing habitat size holds limited potential in the face of developmental pressures in the global south, securing certain micro-habitats may provide co-benefits of connectivity. In fragmented landscapes where ecological corridors are being rapidly lost, we hypothesized that existing river networks may be critical micro habitats for elephants and supplement connectivity between larger habitats. Based on primary survey and ecological modelling, this study investigates how elephants use riverine stretches for their movement in the north-eastern India. The use of river segments by elephants was modelled as a function of ecological and anthropogenic variables to understand their potential as ecological corridors connecting important elephant habitats. Elephant use was recorded in more than half of the total 819 river segments sampled across 11 rivers in the Brahmaputra basin. Elephant site-use was higher in larger rivers with average water flow volume ≥ 10 m 3 /sec and width ~1000 m or more. Riverine habitats close to tea-plantations, grasslands, protected areas and further away from infrastructure such as railway and road bridges were found to be selected by elephant. The ecological model predicted river stretches with high probability of elephant use in the landscape. These findings have broad implications as securing riverine habitats highly used by elephants could be critical for water and forage availability as well as for elephant movement between larger habitats. The results offer policymakers and conservation agencies opportunities for devising long-term elephant conservation solutions in the face of rapid land-use change.