Conserving wide‐ranging large carnivores in human‐dominated landscapes is contingent on acknowledging the conservation value of human‐modified lands. This is particularly true for tigers (Panthera tigris), now largely dependent on small and fragmented habitats, embedded within densely populated agroecosystems in India. Devising a comprehensive conservation strategy for the species requires an understanding of the temporal patterns of space use by tiger within these human‐modified areas. These areas are often characterized by altered prey communities, novel risks resulting from high human densities and seasonally dynamic vegetative cover. Understanding space use within these areas is vital to devising human‐tiger conflict prevention measures and for conserving landscape elements critical to maintain functional connectivity between populations. We documented seasonal space‐use patterns of tigers in agricultural lands surrounding protected areas in the Central Terai Landscape (CTL) in northern India. We estimated the probability of space use and its drivers by applying dynamic occupancy models that correct for false‐positive and false‐negative errors to tiger detection\non‐detection data within agricultural areas. These data were generated by conducting local interviews, sign surveys, and camera trapping within 94 randomly selected 2.5‐km² grid cells. We found that agricultural areas were used with high probability in the winter (0.64; standard error [SE] 0.08), a period of high vegetative cover availability. The use of agricultural lands was lower in the summer (0.56; SE 0.09) and was lowest in the monsoon season (0.21; SE 0.07), tracking a decline in vegetative cover and available habitat across the landscape. Availability of vegetative cover and drainage features positively influenced space use, whereas use declined with increasing distance to protected areas and the extent of human settlements. These findings highlight the role of agricultural areas in providing seasonal habitats for tigers and offer a basis for understanding where tigers and humans co‐occur in these landscapes. These findings help expand our current understanding of what constitutes large carnivore habitats to include human‐dominated agricultural areas. They underscore the need for greater integration of land‐sharing and land‐sparing initiatives to conserve large carnivores within human‐dominated agroecosystems.

中文翻译：

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在印度人为主导且分散的景观中，农业用地为老虎提供了季节性栖息地

在人为主导的景观中保护种类繁多的大型食肉动物，取决于承认人为改变的土地的保护价值。对于老虎尤其如此（Panthera tigris），现在很大程度上依赖于小而零散的栖息地，并嵌入印度人口稠密的农业生态系统中。为该物种制定一项全面的保护策略，需要了解老虎在这些人工改造区域内的空间利用时空格局。这些地区的特点通常是变化的猎物群落，高密度的人类活动和季节性动态的植物覆盖所带来的新风险。了解这些区域内的空间使用对于制定人与老虎冲突预防措施以及保护对维持种群之间的功能连通性至关重要的景观要素至关重要。我们记录了印度北部中部Terai景观（CTL）保护区周围的农田中老虎的季节性空间利用模式。我们通过将动态占用模型校正了农业区域内老虎检测\非检测数据的假阳性和假阴性错误，估算了空间利用的可能性及其驱动因素。这些数据是通过在94个随机选择的2.5公里范围内进行本地采访，标志调查和摄像头捕获而生成的²网格单元。我们发现在冬季（高植被覆盖期），高概率使用农业地区（0.64；标准误[SE] 0.08）。夏季的耕地使用量较低（0.56； SE 0.09），而在季风季节使用量最少（0.21； SE 0.07），这反映了整个植被的植被覆盖和可用栖息地的减少。营养覆盖物和排水系统的可用性对空间使用产生积极影响，而随着到保护区的距离和人类住区范围的扩大，使用量下降。这些发现突出了农业地区在为老虎提供季节性栖息地方面的作用，并为了解老虎和人类在这些景观中共同存在的地方提供了基础。这些发现有助于扩大我们对构成大型食肉动物栖息地的理解，以涵盖人类主导的农业地区。他们强调需要进一步整合土地共享和土地节约举措，以保护人类主导的农业生态系统中的大型食肉动物。