Landscape features and seasonality influence Asian elephants’ sex-specific habitat use and female-led group size across human-dominated landscapes

This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. Landscape features and seasonality influence Asian elephants’ sex-specific habitat use and female-led group size across human-dominated landscapes Abstract Group organization reflects ecological adaptation in social species and is typically described by group size and composition. These key elements of social organization in group-living animals are shaped by life-history strategies, ecological constraints, and social dynamics. Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are highly social, fission-fusion species whose increasing use of human-dominated landscapes often leads to conflicts with people. Understanding how landscape features and seasonality affect elephant social organization across potential human-elephant conflict risk areas is therefore critical for both ecological and conservation perspectives. We analyzed 488 time-stamped group records from 1,261 early-warning reports, collected across 12 rounds in Xishuangbanna and Pu’er, Yunnan, China, between June 2023 and March 2024. Locations were georeferenced and linked to spatial datasets to assess how landscape and temporal variables predict elephant group type and size reported. We found that distance to forest cover and built-up areas significantly predicted group type, with clear sex difference: female-led groups were more likely to occur near forest and farther from built-up areas and the opposite for male-led observations. Additionally, the size of female-led groups was seasonally mediated by distance to cropland and built-up areas, reflecting response to temporal resource variations, where larger groups occurred near cropland in the rainy season and near built-up areas in the dry season, possibly to access alternative food resources. This study provides the first systematic assessment of Asian elephant group organization using early-warning monitoring data. Results highlight how landscape features and season modulate elephant groups via sex-specific preferences and resource availability, offering useful insights for conservation planning and conflict mitigation in the region and beyond. Supplementary Material - Download - 3.24 MB Information & Authors Information Version history Peer review timeline Under Review Ecology and Evolution 17 May 2026Submitted 17 May 2026Submission Checks Completed Collection Authors Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 20views 19downloads Citations Download citation Hao Gu, Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz. Landscape features and seasonality influence Asian elephants’ sex-specific habitat use and female-led group size across human-dominated landscapes. Authorea. 17 May 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/authorea.15003422/v1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/authorea.15003422/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.