Abstract Tiger populations are declining globally, and depletion of major ungulate prey is an important contributing factor. To better understand factors affecting prey distribution in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM), we conducted sign surveys for gaur (Bos gaurus), banteng (Bos javanicus), and sambar (Rusa unicolor) along 3517 1-km transects and used occupancy models to identify important covariates associated with habitat use by each species. Habitat use by both gaur and sambar was lowest in areas closest to human settlements, although sambar preferred lower slopes near streams whereas gaur preferred steeper slopes at higher elevations. Banteng were found in only one of 17 protected areas (Huai Kha Khaeng [HKK] Wildlife Sanctuary), where they used low elevations and low slopes. We used these modeled relationships to predict occurrence of gaur, sambar, and banteng across each square km of the 19,000 km2 WEFCOM landscape, using > 60 % occupancy probability to define suitable habitat use for each species. Based on this criterion, gaur and sambar occupied 28 and 50 % of suitable habitat in WEFCOM, and banteng occupied 57 % of suitable habitat in HKK. We used our models to assess the effectiveness of two hypothetical conservation initiatives. First, we modeled the impact of decreasing human activities around nine villages in the core of WEFCOM, which increased predicted suitable habitat in WEFCOM to 68 and 75 % for guar and sambar. We also modeled the extent of potential banteng habitat that still remains in the other 16 protected areas. This could result in a 4-fold increase in banteng suitable habitat in WEFCOM. This is the first study to use occupancy surveys to determine where large prey species can be restored to support management to increase the distribution of tigers, and potentially fill a half-full tiger landscape.

中文翻译：

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泰国西部森林综合体中老虎猎物的栖息地：填满半满的老虎景观需要什么？

摘要 全球老虎种群数量正在下降，主要有蹄类动物猎物的枯竭是一个重要的促成因素。为了更好地了解影响泰国西部森林综合体 (WEFCOM) 猎物分布的因素，我们对 gaur (Bos gaurus)、banteng (Bos javanicus) 和 sambar (Rusa unicolor) 沿 3517 条 1 公里的样带进行了标志调查，并使用占用模型来确定确定与每个物种的栖息地使用相关的重要协变量。在最靠近人类住区的地区，gaur 和 sambar 的栖息地使用率最低，尽管 sambar 更喜欢靠近溪流的低坡，而 gaur 更喜欢海拔较高的陡坡。Banteng 仅在 17 个保护区中的一个（Huai Kha Khaeng [HKK] Wildlife Sanctuary）中被发现，在那里他们使用了低海拔和低坡度。我们使用这些建模关系来预测 19,000 平方公里 WEFCOM 景观中每平方公里的 gaur、sambar 和 banteng 的出现，使用 > 60% 的占用概率来定义每个物种的合适栖息地用途。根据这一标准，野牛和水鹿在WEFCOM 中分别占据了28% 和50% 的适宜栖息地，而班腾在HKK 中占据了57% 的适宜栖息地。我们使用我们的模型来评估两个假设的保护计划的有效性。首先，我们模拟了WEFCOM核心9个村庄周围人类活动减少的影响，这将WEFCOM的预测适宜栖息地增加到68%和75%的瓜尔豆和水鹿。我们还模拟了其他 16 个保护区中仍然存在的潜在万腾栖息地的范围。这可能会导致 WEFCOM 中适合半腾的栖息地增加 4 倍。