Limited elephant impacts on baobabs despite increasing elephant densities in a newly established protected area

Abstract Megaflora and megafauna face elevated extinction risk due to their sensitivity to land use change, habitat fragmentation, and climate change. Moreover, conservation goals for these two taxa can at times be in conflict. The relationship between the world's largest terrestrial animal, the African savanna elephant ( Loxodonta africana ), and largest fruit‐bearing tree, the African baobab ( Adansonia digitata ), exemplifies this conflict. Elephants and baobabs share landscapes, but elephants utilize baobabs for water and nutrients by stripping bark and excavating trunks, causing damage to targeted trees. We used aerial and field survey data to investigate spatial patterns in elephant utilization of baobab trees in Karingani Game Reserve, Mozambique, in order to establish the extent of elephant impacts and guide management policy in this newly established protected area. We (1) assessed the accuracy of aerial surveys for representing baobab distributions, (2) quantified landscape drivers of baobab distributions, and (3) evaluated which landscape variables impact the degree of elephant utilization of baobabs. We found that the aerial survey provided a reliable representation of baobab distribution, achieving a ~73.1% detection rate, and that larger baobabs were more likely to be detected. The likelihood of baobab presence was higher closer to permanent water, at lower elevations, and in areas with lower average precipitation. The overall level of elephant utilization of baobabs across Karingani was low relative to impacts documented in neighboring Kruger National Park, South Africa, where elephant densities are higher. There was a significant negative correlation between terrain slope and percentage bark area stripped, suggesting that baobabs on steeper terrain could be more protected from elephant impacts. These findings help inform the broader scientific debate around megaherbivore management in the face of growing elephant densities in many protected areas.