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Abstract Understanding the amount of space required by animals to fulfill their biological needs is essential for comprehending their behavior, their ecological role within their community, and for effective conservation planning and resource management. The space-use patterns of habituated primates often are studied by using handheld GPS devices, which provide detailed movement information that can link patterns of ranging and space-use to the behavioral decisions that generate these patterns. However, these data may not accurately represent an animal’s total movements, posing challenges when the desired inference is at the home range scale. To address this problem, we used a 13-year dataset from 11 groups of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator) to examine the impact of sampling elements, such as sample size, regularity, and temporal coverage, on home range estimation accuracy. We found that accurate home range estimation is feasible with relatively small absolute sample sizes and irregular sampling, as long as the data are collected over extended time periods. Also, concentrated sampling can lead to bias and overconfidence due to uncaptured variations in space use and underlying movement behaviors. Sampling protocols relying on handheld GPS for home range estimation are improved by maximizing independent location data distributed across time periods much longer than the target species’ home range crossing timescale.
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Uncovering multiple influences on space use by deer mice using large ecological networks
Abstract Space use by animals is affected by multiple factors; previous researchers have examined the effects of influences, such as sex, body condition, and population density on home range area. However, evaluating the simultaneous influences of multiple factors on animal space use has been relatively intractable due to sample size limitations. We capitalize on National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) data to ask what factors determine space use by deer mice (genusPeromyscus). We examined data from 10 years of repeated captures of individually-identified mice at 36 sites across North America. We confirmed previous findings that males have larger home ranges than females and that home range area decreases with increasing animal density. In addition, our large sample size (N = 2,420 individuals) enabled us to examine the interacting influences of these, and other, phenotypic and extrinsic factors using a robust statistical framework. We found that the relationship between body condition and home range area differs between male and female mice, and that habitat type, latitude, and animal density all interact to influence space use. We conclude that data from large ecological networks can be used to examine important behavioral questions that have long eluded investigators.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2110233
- PAR ID:
- 10597419
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Science + Business Media
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Oecologia
- Volume:
- 207
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 0029-8549
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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