Definition and predicted effect of covariates in detectability and occupancy of leopard of Chure range

Covariates	Definition	Type	Expected effect	Remarks
Prey abundance	The relative abundance of prey species (barking deer, chital, wild boar, rhesus) across the 2‐km continuous random transect	Continuous	Positive (Ψ, known to be the function of carnivore densities, Karanth et al., 2011)	In case of wild boar, we separated it from rest prey as it is often avoided by predators for its aggressive behavior, so we expected negative effect on Ψ
Tiger	The relative abundance of tiger in the west Chure range	Continuous	Negative for Ψ, as leopard avoids tiger	The tigers are present only in the west Chure range
Human disturbance	Lopping and encroachment of humans across entire grid	Continuous	Negative(Ψ, Predators avoid human disturbance, Muhly et al., 2011)
Livestock presence	The relative abundance of livestock (cow, goat) across the 2‐km continuous random transect	Continuous	Negative for both Ψ and “p” (overgrazing by livestock is threat to prey species; considered as substitute for human impacts, Karanth et al., 2011)
Management Regime	The location of survey grids inside or outside of the protected areas of the Chure range (inside = 1, outside = 0)	Categorical	Positive for both Ψ and p (the human disturbance inside the protected areas are low compared to nonprotected areas)
Normalized difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)	Averaged across grid cell. Calculated from 250‐m resolution Medium Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite images	Continuous	Positive for Ψ (provides an opportunity for leopard, ambush predator) to hunt (Sharma et al., 2015), negative “p” (our study period was postmonsoon, and the leaves shading from the deciduous tree during this season reduces the chances of sign detection)	Arc GIS 10.1
Terrain Ruggedness (R)	Averaged across grid cell. Calculated using 90 m ASTER DEM.	Continuous	Positive for Ψ and “p” (increased ruggedness will be harder for people to access and disturbance will be lower)	Arc GIS 10.1
Human Population Density (PD)	Averaged across grid cell. Calculated from the Gridded Population of the World Version 4	Continuous	Negative for Ψ (increased population density within a grid increases the human disturbance)	Arc GIS 10.1
Sampling Effort (SE)	Total km of continuous random transect walk actually surveyed in a grid	Continuous	Positive for “p” (survey effort varied from grid to grid due to logistical constraint (Harihar & Pandav, 2012)