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Modelling landscape permeability for dispersal and colonization of tigers (Panthera tigris) in the Greater Panna Landscape, Central India

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Abstract

Context

Conservation approaches focussed within protected areas (PAs) have proved successful for tiger (Panthera tigris) conservation in India, but India’s growing tiger population requires a landscape-level approach to ensure protection of both source populations and dispersing individuals. Thus, spatially explicit mapping of corridors to support existing metapopulations and provide opportunities for recolonization (i.e., stepping stones, satellite cores) are essential to guide conservation and management planning.

Objective

We aimed to model functional connectivity for dispersal and natural colonization of tigers in Central India, and validate our predictions using movement data of translocated tigers in the region.

Methods

We first mapped 28 forest patches in the Greater Panna Landscape (GPL) in Central India. Using a resistance surface, we modelled connectivity with least cost path analysis and circuit theory. Centrality scores and pinch-points were calculated, enabling identification of stepping stones and satellite cores. We validated the predicted corridors through spatial path randomization of independent tiger telemetry data.

Results

We identified 67 corridor links, 10 stepping stones and 11 satellite cores. Validation confirmed high prediction accuracy, with empirical dispersal paths having mean connectivity values higher than 70% to 98% of the randomised paths.

Conclusion

Functional connectivity assessment in heterogeneous landscapes can benefit from deploying multiple connectivity methods and empirical validation. Our analysis identified corridors, stepping stones and satellite cores that were consistent between multiple connectivity modelling methods and strongly reflected actual observed patterns of tiger dispersal in this landscape. These “consensus” areas provide useful insights for spatial planning for tiger conservation at landscape level.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to the conservation status of the species and prevalence of poaching but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. The movement data has been previously used in two studies by Krishnamurthy et al. (2016) and Sarkar et al. (2021).

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Madhya Pradesh State Forest Department, National Tiger Conservation Authority, National Water Development Agency and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for the financial and logistic support in this project. We thank the Director and Dean of Wildlife Institute of India for the opportunity to take up the project in Panna Tiger Reserve. We also thank Dr. Sujata Upgupta, Dr. Satyam Verma, R. Rajasekar, Sankarshan Chaudhary, Supratim Dutta and other Panna Tiger Reserve research team members for their insights and feedback. We are thankful to the frontline field staff of Panna Tiger Reserve for their continuous support throughout the project.

Funding

The funding for the study was provided by the National Water Development Agency, Government of India.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, 248001, Uttarakhand, India

    Meera Makwana, Vaishali Vasudeva & Ramesh Krishnamurthy

  2. Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Vaishali Vasudeva & Ramesh Krishnamurthy

  3. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Samuel A. Cushman

  4. University of Oxford Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Oxford, UK

    Samuel A. Cushman

Authors
  1. Meera Makwana
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  2. Vaishali Vasudeva
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  3. Samuel A. Cushman
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  4. Ramesh Krishnamurthy
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Contributions

Conceptualization: RK, MM, VV; Methodology: MM, VV, RK; Formal analysis and investigation: MM, VV, RK, SAC; Writing—original draft preparation: MM, VV; Writing—review and editing: MM, VV, SAC, RK; Funding acquisition: RK; Resources: RK; Supervision: RK.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ramesh Krishnamurthy.

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Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The data on animal movement used in this study involved collaring of individuals and was carried out following standard protocols, safety measures and approvals from National Tiger Conservation Authority and concerned State Forest Department.

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Makwana, M., Vasudeva, V., Cushman, S.A. et al. Modelling landscape permeability for dispersal and colonization of tigers (Panthera tigris) in the Greater Panna Landscape, Central India. Landsc Ecol 38, 797–819 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01590-x

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