Predictive Modelling of Asian Elephant Movement in Endau-Rompin (Peta) National Park, Johor, Malaysia using Maxent and Remote Sensing Approach. Kugan RAJU. 1* and Noordyana HASSAN. 1,2*
1 Department of Geoinformation, Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
2 Geoscience and Digital Earth Centre (INSTeG), Research Institute of Sustainable Environment (RISE), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
Abstract
Habitat loss and fragmentation have become major hazards to wide-ranging species such as Asian elephants. In Peninsular Malaysia, the population of Asian elephants is gradually declining due to the degradation of their habitat. Studying the potential movement of an endangered species within a protected rainforest is important, as they are highly significant for ecology. However, spatial data on elephant movement remains limited across Asian elephant range countries, including Peninsular Malaysia. Therefore, in the present study, we estimate the potential Asian elephant movement in Endau-Rompin (Peta) National Park using Maxent and remote sensing while analysing the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on movement patterns within the landscape. This study used Maximum Entropy Modelling (Maxent) to estimate the potential Asian elephant movement using elephant occurrences and environmental factors. The influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on elephant movement was assessed through statistical analysis and compared with the model output variables contribution. Additionally, the result was validated using supplementary data collected within the study area. The results of this study predicted that 43% of the study area is suitable habitat for Asian elephant movement, with 19% classified as highly suitable and 38% as less suitable. The model training and test data showed satisfactory AUC scores of 0.85 and 0.90, respectively. In conclusion, Maxent is considered an insightful method for estimating the movement patterns of endangered species within a protected rainforest. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) may employ the findings of this study to inform future site-specific conservation and management efforts.
