- 113 views
- 59 downloads
Spatial scales of habitat selection decisions: implications for telemetry-based movement modeling
-
- Author(s) / Creator(s)
-
Movement influences a myriad of ecological processes operating at multiple spatial
and temporal scales. Yet our understanding of animal movement is limited by the
resolution of data that can be obtained from individuals. Traditional approaches
implicitly assume that movement decisions are made at the spatial and temporal scales
of observation, although this scale is typically an artifact of data-gathering technology
rather than biological realism. To address this limitation, we used telemetry-based
movement data for caribou Rangifer tarandus in Newfoundland, Canada, and compared
movement decisions estimated at the temporal resolution of GPS relocations (2 h) to
a novel model describing directional movement to areas reachable over an extended
period. We showed that this newer model is a better predictor of movement decisions
by caribou, with decisions made at the scale of ∼2 km, including the strong avoidance
of dense coniferous forest, an outcome not detectable at the scale of GPS relocations.
These results illustrate the complexity of factors affecting animal movement decisions
and the analytical challenges associated with their interpretation. Our novel modelling
framework will help support increased accuracy in predictive models of animal spaceuse, and thereby aid in determining biologically meaningful scales for collecting
movement and habitat data. -
- Date created
- 2017-04-01
-
- Subjects / Keywords
-
- Type of Item
- Article (Published)