Asian elephants are associated with a more robust mammalian community in tropical forests

Abstract

Megaherbivores are experiencing a global extinction crisis before we fully understand their ecological functions. While the role of megaherbivores as ecosystem engineers-enhancing environmental structure complexity and facilitating seed dispersal-is well-documented, their influence on animal community assemblies remains less explored, especially in tropical forests. This knowledge gap is crucial for effective, functional-oriented conservation planning. Therefore, we investigated the association between Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and mammalian community assemblages-from community to species level-in tropical forests of Southwest China, using long-term monitoring data from camera traps. Our results revealed that the presence of Asian elephants was associated with a more robust co-occurrence network within mammalian communities. Additionally, elephants were positively correlated with the abundance of mammal species, especially ungulates and primates. At the species level, while some mammals temporarily avoided Asian elephants, most retained their diel activity patterns, presumably because they were neither in a predator-prey relationship nor intense competitors. Our results show that Asian elephants not only affect vegetation but also are associated with a more robust mammalian community. Consequently, protecting elephants is a pivotal conservation action towards maintaining robust animal communities in Asian tropical forests.

Keywords: Elephas maximus; abundance; community; mammal; megaherbivore; network analysis.