Figure 1
From: Land-use change is associated with multi-century loss of elephant ecosystems in Asia
Locations of elephant occurrence. (a) Brown shaded region shows presumed historic post-glacial range (Olivier20), smaller purple polygons show current range (classified as “active confirmed” in Hedges et al.85), points show sampled occurrences. Map created by S. de Silva in Quantum GIS (QGIS, https://www.qgis.org) v.2.18.25. (b) Examples of Asian elephant ecosystems. Upper panel: anthropogenic water sources of varying ages and scale at which elephants gather in Sri Lanka. (i) A small reservoir originally built and maintained at village-level with inhabitants resettled in the 1980s after the creation of Udawalawe National Park, now maintained by wildlife managers. (ii) A large dammed reservoir completed in the 1970s and maintained by the national government, the impetus for creation of Udawalawe National Park. (iii) The large Minneriya reservoir built by King Mahasen in the third century and restored in the 1800s following British occupation. Small reservoirs provide year-round water whereas large reservoirs also yield floodplain vegetation for forage. Lower panel: Asian elephants occur in dry seasonally deciduous forests (iv) as well as lush a-seasonal rainforests. Photos: S. de Silva.
