Movement ecology of Asian elephants in peninsular Malaysia

As the largest terrestrial animal on earth, elephants perform important and irreplaceable roles within their environments. However, Asian elephants are facing extinction by the end of the century, with human-elephant conflict and poaching as the main drivers behind their rapid population decline. In Asia, conservation actions rarely take into account the movement ecology of elephants due to the lack of information available. Therefore, conservation actions could be improved by having a deeper understanding of Asian elephant movement ecology. In light of this knowledge gap, this thesis has increased our understanding of Asian elephant movement ecology by generating over 250,000 GPS locations from 51 individuals between 2011-2018, which is equivalent to over 500,000 hours of elephant monitoring in Peninsular Malaysia. In addition, our baseline analysis of elephant movements in Peninsular Malaysia generated information about home range size (up to 600 km2), movement patterns, habitat selection (avoid steep slopes and preferred secondary forest and open habitats), and how human pressures are affecting elephant movements (decreases home range size). Additionally, a mechanistic modelling framework discovered roads caused strong and consistent barrier effects for elephants, increased mortality, and significantly reduced the permeability (on average by 79.5%) between forest patches. Lastly, post-monitoring of translocated elephants revealed critical patterns in response to translocation. Translocated elephants varied in their responses, with a high proportion of elephants (56%) returning to the original human-conflict area (up to 80 km) or left the protected area, which resulted in translocated movements not settling in the first year. This thesis will contribute to a better understanding of the movement ecology of elephants and provide relevant research for the conservation of the species and their habitats

Understanding key constraints and practice design in Rugby Union place kicking : experiential knowledge of professional kickers and experienced coaches

Place kicks present valuable opportunities to score points in Rugby Union, which are typically performed under varying constraints in competitive performance environments. Previous quantitative studies suggest these interacting constraints can influence fluctuations in place kick success. To further the understanding of how fluctuations in place kicking success emerge, our aim was twofold: i) to explore and identify the key constraints that professional place kickers and experienced place kicking coaches perceive to influence the difficulty of a place kick and ii) to understand the level to which current place kicking practice environments represent these key constraints experienced in performance environments. Six professional place kickers and six experienced place kicking coaches were interviewed. Using a deductive thematic analysis, 11 key constraints were identified: individual constraints of expectation for success and fatigue, task constraints of angle and distance to goalposts, environmental constraints of wind, weather, pitch, and crowd, and situational constraints of previous kicking performance, time remaining and current score margin. Place kicking is typically practised individually or with a small number of place kickers in isolation from team sessions. Where possible, coaches should be encouraged to include place kicking in simulated game scenarios during practice to represent key constraints from performance environments. Our study demonstrates how experiential knowledge can enrich the understanding of sport performance and inform the design of practice environments which simulate relevant constraints of competitive performance to enhance skill adaptation of athletes

A multi-stakeholder strategy to identify conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia

Malaysia, with its rapidly growing economy, exemplifies the tensions between conservation and development faced by many tropical nations. Here we present the results of a multi-stakeholder engagement exercise conducted to (1) define conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia and (2) explore differences in perceptions among and within stakeholder groups (i.e. government, academia, NGOs and the private sector). Our data collection involved two workshops and two online surveys where participants identified seven general conservation themes and ranked the top five priority issues within each theme. The themes were: (1) policy and management, (2) legislation and enforcement, (3) finance and resource allocation, (4) knowledge, research and development, (5) socio-economic issues, (6) public awareness and participation and (7) rights of nature. In spite of their very different backgrounds and agendas, the four stakeholder groups showed general agreement in their priority preferences except for two issues. Respondents from government and private sector differed the most from each other in their priority choices while academia and NGO showed the highest degree of similarity. This ranked list of 35 conservation priorities is expected to influence the work of policy-makers and others in Peninsular Malaysia and can be used as a model to identify conservation priorities elsewhere

Predicting biodiversity richness in rapidly changing landscapes: climate, low human pressure or protection as salvation?

Rates of biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia are among the highest in the world, and the Indo-Burma and South-Central China Biodiversity Hotspots rank among the world’s most threatened. Developing robust multi-species conservation models is critical for stemming biodiversity loss both here and globally. We used a large and geographically extensive remote-camera survey and multi-scale, multivariate optimization species distribution modelling to investigate the factors driving biodiversity across these two adjoining biodiversity hotspots. Four major findings emerged from the work. (i) We identified clear spatial patterns of species richness, with two main biodiverse centres in the Thai-Malay Peninsula and in the mountainous region of Southwest China. (ii) Carnivores in particular, and large ungulates to a lesser degree, were the strongest indicators of species richness. (iii) Climate had the largest effect on biodiversity, followed by protected status and human footprint. (iv) Gap analysis between the biodiversity model and the current system of protected areas revealed that the majority of areas supporting the highest predicted biodiversity are not protected. Our results highlighted several key locations that should be prioritized for expanding the protected area network to maximize conservation effectiveness. We demonstrated the importance of switching from single-species to multi-species approaches to highlight areas of high priority for biodiversity conservation. In addition, since these areas mostly occur over multiple countries, we also advocate for a paradigmatic focus on transboundary conservation planning.The majority of the team, as well as the data, were part of the core WildCRU effort supported principally by a Robertson Foundation grant to DWM

Movement ecology of Asian elephants in peninsular Malaysia

As the largest terrestrial animal on earth, elephants perform important and irreplaceable roles within their environments. However, Asian elephants are facing extinction by the end of the century, with human-elephant conflict and poaching as the main drivers behind their rapid population decline. In Asia, conservation actions rarely take into account the movement ecology of elephants due to the lack of information available. Therefore, conservation actions could be improved by having a deeper understanding of Asian elephant movement ecology. In light of this knowledge gap, this thesis has increased our understanding of Asian elephant movement ecology by generating over 250,000 GPS locations from 51 individuals between 2011-2018, which is equivalent to over 500,000 hours of elephant monitoring in Peninsular Malaysia. In addition, our baseline analysis of elephant movements in Peninsular Malaysia generated information about home range size (up to 600 km2), movement patterns, habitat selection (avoid steep slopes and preferred secondary forest and open habitats), and how human pressures are affecting elephant movements (decreases home range size). Additionally, a mechanistic modelling framework discovered roads caused strong and consistent barrier effects for elephants, increased mortality, and significantly reduced the permeability (on average by 79.5%) between forest patches. Lastly, post-monitoring of translocated elephants revealed critical patterns in response to translocation. Translocated elephants varied in their responses, with a high proportion of elephants (56%) returning to the original human-conflict area (up to 80 km) or left the protected area, which resulted in translocated movements not settling in the first year. This thesis will contribute to a better understanding of the movement ecology of elephants and provide relevant research for the conservation of the species and their habitats

Mechanisms of monovacancy diffusion in graphene

A comprehensive investigation of monovacancy diffusion in graphene has been carried out with the use of density functional theory and the climbing image nudged elastic band method. An out-of-plane spiro structure is found for the first-order saddle point, which defines the transition state in the vacancy diffusion pathway. The obtained activation energy for diffusion is significantly lower than the reported values for the in-plane saddle point structures. The time between consecutive vacancy jumps in graphene is estimated to be in the range of 100-200 s at room temperature in a good agreement with experimental observations

Why did the elephant cross the road? The complex response of wild elephants to a major road in Peninsular Malaysia

Roads cause negative impacts on wildlife by directly and indirectly facilitating habitat destruction and wildlife mortality. We used GPS telemetry to study the movements of 17 wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and a mechanistic modelling framework to analyse elephant response to a road bisecting their habitat in Belum-Temengor, northern Peninsular Malaysia. Our objectives were to (1) describe patterns of road crossing, (2) quantify road effects on movement patterns and habitat preference, and (3) quantify individual variation in elephant responses to the road. Elephants crossed the road on average 3.9 +/- 0.6 times a month, mostly (81% of times) at night, and crossing was not evenly distributed in space. The road caused a strong and consistent barrier effect for elephants, reducing permeability an average of 79.5%. Elephants, however, were attracted to the proximity to the road, where secondary forest and open habitats are more abundant and contain more food resources for elephants. Although the road acts as a strong barrier to movement (a direct effect), local changes to vegetation communities near roads attract elephants (an indirect effect). Given that risk of mortality (from poaching and vehicle collisions) increases near roads, roads may, therefore, create attractive sinks for elephants. To mitigate the impact of this road we recommend avoiding further road expansion, reducing and enforcing speed limits, limiting traffic volume at night, managing habitat near the road and, importantly, enhancing patrolling and other anti-poaching efforts. Our results are relevant for landscapes throughout Asia and Africa, where existing or planned roads fragment elephant habitats

Land-use change is associated with multi-century loss of elephant ecosystems in Asia

Understanding historic patterns of land use and land cover change across large temporal and spatial scales is critical for developing effective biodiversity conservation management and policy. We quantify the extent and fragmentation of suitable habitat across the continental range of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) based on present-day occurrence data and land-use variables between 850 and 2015 A.D. We found that following centuries of relative stability, over 64% (3.36 million km2) of suitable elephant habitat across Asia was lost since the year 1700, coincident with colonial-era land-use practices in South Asia and subsequent agricultural intensification in Southeast Asia. Average patch size dropped 83% from approximately 99,000-16,000 km2 and the area occupied by the largest patch decreased 83% from ~ 4 million km2 (45% of area) to 54,000 km2 (~ 7.5% of area). Whereas 100% of the area within 100 km of the current elephant range could have been considered suitable habitat in the year 1700, over half was unsuitable by 2015, driving potential conflict with people. These losses reflect long-term decline of non-forested ecosystems, exceeding estimates of deforestation within this century. Societies must consider ecological histories in addition to proximate threats to develop more just and sustainable land-use and conservation strategies

Mechanisms of monovacancy diffusion in graphene

A comprehensive investigation of monovacancy diffusion in graphene has been carried out with the use of density functional theory and the climbing image nudged elastic band method. An out-of-plane spiro structure is found for the first-order saddle point, which defines the transition state in the vacancy diffusion pathway. The obtained activation energy for diffusion is significantly lower than the reported values for the in-plane saddle point structures. The time between consecutive vacancy jumps in graphene is estimated to be in the range of 100-200 s at room temperature in a good agreement with experimental observations

Mainland Clouded Leopard Habitat Suitability Model - 4 Thresholds

The zip file contains four GIS raster layers representing a range of thresholds of the mainland clouded leopard habitat suitability model. Layers include 50th, 75th, 90th, and 97.5th percentiles of the multi-scale GLMM. Suitable habitat is classified as 1; all habitat below a specified threshold is classified as 0. Raster resolution: 250m; coordinate system: Asia South Albers Equal Area Conic