4. Habitat–Wildlife Relationship and Different Models

After getting the habitat characteristics of the study area, we tried to establish the habitat–wildlife relationship with the help of different models. Habitat heterogeneity is the main controlling factor for the movement of animals within different forest patches in the study area. Different variables, such as pattern of energy/nutrient and water flow or quality and composition of plant species, were plotted. By applying models of vegetation composition and structure—a disturbance model, a gap analysis model and a habitat suitability model—we established the relationship between elephants and the habitat in the Panchet Forest area. Ecological information was plotted against different manmade factors like abundance of plant species and distance from motorable road; concentration of pond and distance from forest core; and forest edge distance and abundance of plant species to obtain the impact of anthropogenic activities on the elephant habitat. A gap analysis model was applied to identify gaps in the conservation area. This model is helpful for getting the zones of floral species’ richness or ‘hot spot’ or rarity. Accordingly, the habitat or niche of a specific animal is determined. A habitat suitability model was applied to show the habitat–animal relationship. We took a number of environmental variables into consideration.