Energy landscapes direct the movement preferences of elephants.

ABSTRACT: The movements of animals affect biodiversity, ecological processes, and the resilience of an ecosystem. Movements carry both costs and benefits, and the use of a given landscape provides important insights into an animal's behavioural ecology and decision processes, as well as elucidating ecosystem complexity and informing conservation measures that are ever more important in the age of rapid global changes. The mobility and habitat preferences of African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) offer a good example to explore the concept of 'energy landscapes', that is, the interplay between the cost of locomotion and vegetation productivity, balanced by topography, availability of water and human presence and pressures. Our results, building on tracking data from 157 individuals collected

SUBMITTER: Berti E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12056349 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature