Expansion of human settlements and development have undeniable impacts on wildlife and habitats. Yet wildlife continues to persist in human-modified environments. While shifting patterns of wildlife landscape use in response to development is well established, less is known about how risk avoidance by animals impacts their resource access. Our research addresses this question by assessing spatial and temporal patterns in access to water resources for savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) relative to anthropogenic features in the Okavango Panhandle of Botswana. We combined GPS collar data from 39 elephants (2014–2018) with spatial data on permanent water sources and human development to quantify patterns of water access. We modelled a multi-scale resource selection function that showed elephants selected water access points in areas with less human development (p < 0.0151). Elephants visited water more evenly across day and night in areas with no buildings nearby, but shifted to a significantly more nocturnal pattern in areas of higher building density (ANOVA, p < 0.001). Analysing spatial and temporal patterns of elephant resource access in the context of anthropogenic features provides compelling insight into the potential consequences of human-modified landscapes on the behaviour, fitness, and persistence of threatened species and our coexistence with them.

中文翻译：

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人为对野生动物资源利用的影响：大象获取水源的时空变化

人类住区的扩张和发展对野生动物和栖息地产生了不可否认的影响。然而，野生动物继续存在于人类改造的环境中。虽然随着发展而改变野生动物景观利用模式已经确立，但对动物规避风险如何影响其资源获取的了解却很少。我们的研究通过评估热带草原象（非洲象属）获取水资源的空间和时间模式来解决这个问题。) 相对于博茨瓦纳奥卡万戈狭长地带的人为特征。我们将来自 39 头大象（2014-2018 年）的 GPS 项圈数据与关于永久水源和人类发展的空间数据相结合，以量化取水模式。我们模拟了一个多尺度资源选择函数，该函数显示大象在人类发展较少的地区选择取水点 ( p  < 0.0151)。在附近没有建筑物的地区，大象在白天和黑夜更均匀地访问水，但在建筑物密度较高的地区转为夜间活动模式（方差分析，p < 0.001)。在人为特征的背景下分析大象资源获取的空间和时间模式，提供了令人信服的洞察力，深入了解人类改造的景观对受威胁物种的行为、健康和持久性以及我们与它们的共存的潜在后果。