The nonlinear effects of forest cover and altitude on seasonal habitat selection of Asian elephants are related to temperature

Climate change threatens the survival of species, particularly large tropical mammals. Although some protection measures have been implemented, refined management is the key to ensuring their effectiveness. However, little is known about how large mammals adapt to climate change, especially thermal environment change, under complex circumstances, hindering efforts to develop specific policies. Here, we used a dataset from a continuous drone survey of Asian elephants on the southwestern border of China to illustrate seasonal differences in habitat use patterns, including forest, water, altitude, and the interaction between forest and altitude. We used resource selection function to examine the seasonal habitat selection of Asian elephant. We calculated the Johnson-Neyman intervals to identify management threshold, and clarify the relationship between temperature and forest ratio in habitats by fitting generalized linear mixed models. Overall, the interaction effect between the forest ratio and altitude varied with seasonal changes. Habitat with higher forest ratio is more likely to be utilized during wet season. Asian elephants use habitats with higher forest ratios in the wet season at high altitudes (above approximately 1,000 m) than those at low altitudes. Moreover, we found that temperature could explain seasonal patterns of habitat use. These findings suggest that large tropical mammals exhibit complex adaptive behaviors to thermal environment under different combinations of land types and topography. Our study highlights the importance of interactions between habitat features for seasonal adaptation and the need for fine-tuned management.