Transect and plot data from: Fruit trees drive small-scale movement of elephants in Kibale National Park, Uganda

Understanding what motivates animal spatial behavior requires discerning the relationship between animals and the landscape in which they move. Many studies have focused on large scale trends that drive migrations and movement across broad landscapes, but few studies have focused on drivers of local movement within smaller areas based on fine–scale landscape heterogeneity. This is especially true for African elephants (Loxodonta africana), whose movements in relation to landscape variables have frequently been studied across vast areas, but infrequently on a small scale.  We report on how the local distribution of an important resource—fruit trees—shapes elephant movement patterns in Kibale National Park, Uganda. We hypothesized that the spatial location of elephant trails, and especially intersections in the network of trails, would be heavily associated with fruit trees, with trail density being higher in areas with greater fruit availability. Elephant trails and nearby fruit trees we...