Socio-ecological factors driving the population of striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) in the Western and Eastern ghats parts of Tamilnadu, South India

Abstract

The distribution of hyaenas has been shrinking in the landscape, hence a complete understanding on the patchy distribution patterns of the species is much needed from this landscape. Therefore, realizing the need for critical information on the species from Protected Areas (PAs) and Non-PAs of WEGPTN, this comprehensive study was conducted with the following three distinct objectives 1) Examine the role of socio-economic characteristics and livestock predation on the prospect of striped hyaena conservation in a high human-carnivore conflict landscape, 2) Assess co-predator interaction in the breeding habitat of striped hyaenas, and 3) Prioritize potential suitable habitats for striped hyaena conservation. This is the first study to examine the top-down effects on hyaenas at such a broad scale. Additionally, it also heuristically demonstrates the effectiveness of a global random forest model in predicting context-dependent species-environment responses using a region specific global response approach (RSGRs). This underscores the critical role of variable interactions in addressing non-stationarity in ecological studies. As such, the study calls for reconsidering criticisms of the random forest model's presumed static behavior, which inherently accounts for variable interactions. This study also further advocates for methodological advancements that allow for the prediction of differential limiting factors within a single modeling framework, addressing a key limitation of existing approaches. Such advancements would make the algorithm more robust in addressing non-stationary ecological phenomena, such as habitat selection and top-down control, ultimately enabling more efficient wildlife management by addressing data deficiencies at the micro-scale and non-stationarity at the macro scale.