Space use and the social system of muskrats

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 869-875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lui Marinelli ◽  
François Messier
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Home Range ◽  
Social System ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Social Unit ◽  
Canadian Prairies ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Range Overlap

We investigated the space-use patterns of adult muskrats in a small (77 ha) marsh on the Canadian Prairies during two breeding seasons. During the study, population size was relatively low and the adult sex ratio was biased towards females. Adult muskrats were territorial with little intrasexual home-range overlap. The exclusivity of home ranges was maintained throughout the breeding season, and appeared to decrease at the end of the season. Male movements often extended over the territory of more than one female, but the overlap was more extensive with primary than with secondary females. Lactation appeared to reduce the space use and mobility of female muskrats. Male muskrats tended to range over smaller areas when weaned young were present within their home range. The results suggest that the sexual pair is the basic social unit of muskrats but that polygyny was common. A female-biased sex ratio appeared to be responsible for the tendency of males to mate polygynously during this study, thus illustrating the plasticity of this social system.

scholarly journals The home-range concept: are traditional estimators still relevant with modern telemetry technology?

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1550) ◽  
pp. 2221-2231 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Kie ◽  
Jason Matthiopoulos ◽  
John Fieberg ◽  
Roger A. Powell ◽  
Francesca Cagnacci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Animal Movement ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Data Intensive ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Location Data ◽  
Utilization Distributions

Recent advances in animal tracking and telemetry technology have allowed the collection of location data at an ever-increasing rate and accuracy, and these advances have been accompanied by the development of new methods of data analysis for portraying space use, home ranges and utilization distributions. New statistical approaches include data-intensive techniques such as kriging and nonlinear generalized regression models for habitat use. In addition, mechanistic home-range models, derived from models of animal movement behaviour, promise to offer new insights into how home ranges emerge as the result of specific patterns of movements by individuals in response to their environment. Traditional methods such as kernel density estimators are likely to remain popular because of their ease of use. Large datasets make it possible to apply these methods over relatively short periods of time such as weeks or months, and these estimates may be analysed using mixed effects models, offering another approach to studying temporal variation in space-use patterns. Although new technologies open new avenues in ecological research, our knowledge of why animals use space in the ways we observe will only advance by researchers using these new technologies and asking new and innovative questions about the empirical patterns they observe.

Spatial-use patterns, movements, and interactions among adult coyotes in central Mississippi

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (12) ◽  
pp. 2087-2095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J Chamberlain ◽  
Charles D Lovell ◽  
Bruce D Leopold
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Core Area ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Movement Rates ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Pair Bonds ◽  
Northern Regions ◽  
Range Overlap

Recently, coyotes (Canis latrans) have expanded their range to include most areas of the southeastern United States. However, most research on coyotes has been conducted in western and northern regions of North America. We radio-monitored 38 adult coyotes from 1993 to 1997 in central Mississippi. Home-range sizes (P = 0.681) and core-area (area of concentrated use) sizes (P = 0.736) were similar across seasons, but females maintained larger home ranges (P = 0.006) and core areas (P < 0.001) than males. Male-male, female-female, and male-female home-range overlap was greatest during whelping and pup rearing. Except for mated pairs, core-area overlap was negligible across all seasons for adults maintaining neighboring home ranges. Coyote habitat selection varied across spatial scales, though selection was similar between males and females at all scales. Coyote movement rates differed (P < 0.001) temporally, being highest during nocturnal periods. Overall, the highest movement rates for the monitored population were observed for females during summer. Two males and 2 females were suspected of forming pair bonds and frequently traveled together within shared home ranges, as did 2 adult males. Our data indicate that interactions among individual adults are influenced by sex, as most confirmed instances of direct contact occurred between pairs or suspected social groups. In our study area, neighboring adult coyotes exhibited territoriality at the core-area level.

scholarly journals Space-use scaling and home range overlap in primates

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1751) ◽  
pp. 20122122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Pearce ◽  
Chris Carbone ◽  
Guy Cowlishaw ◽  
Nick J. B. Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Allometric Scaling ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Home Range Overlap ◽  
Range Overlap

Space use is an important aspect of animal ecology, yet our understanding is limited by a lack of synthesis between interspecific and intraspecific studies. We present analyses of a dataset of 286 estimates of home range overlap from 100 primate species, with comparable samples for other space-use traits. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first multispecies study using overlap data estimated directly from field observations. We find that space-use traits in primates are only weakly related to body mass, reflecting their largely arboreal habits. Our results confirm a theory that home range overlap explains the differences in allometric scaling between population density and home range size. We then test a suite of hypotheses to explain home range overlap, both among and within species. We find that overlap is highest for larger-bodied species living in large home ranges at high population densities, where annual rainfall is low, and is higher for arboreal than terrestrial species. Most of these results are consistent with the economics of resource defence, although the predictions of one specific theory of home range overlap are not supported. We conclude that home range overlap is somewhat predictable, but the theoretical basis of animal space use remains patchy.

scholarly journals A new general index of home range overlap and segregation: the Lesser Kestrel in Southern Italy as a case study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Ferrarini ◽  
Giuseppe Giglio ◽  
Stefania Caterina Pellegrino ◽  
Marco Gustin
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Computationally Efficient ◽  
Home Range Overlap ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
Range Overlap

Abstract Background There is increasing interest in evaluating home-range overlap (or, otherwise, segregation) between bird species, and between or within bird populations, to inform spatial planning. So far, studies of home-range overlap typically make use of comparisons between pairs of individuals, populations or species, and return a matrix of pairwise overlaps (e.g., percent overlaps). However, when the number of individuals, populations or species to be compared is elevated, an overlarge overlap matrix is difficult to interpret from an ecological viewpoint. Methods We propose here a new, conceptually simple and computationally efficient index (general overlap index; GOI) for the ready computation within GIS of home range overlap of an arbitrarily large number (i.e., n ≥ 2) of individuals, populations or species. Whatever the number of home ranges to be compared, GOI always returns a single score between 0 and 100. As a case study, we applied our index to 24,074 GPS points of 10 Lesser Kestrels (Falco naumanni) in order to estimate within-colony and between-colony overlaps in two neighboring colonies in Southern Italy. Results Within-colony overlap was elevated for both colonies (96.41% at Cassano delle Murge, n = 5 individuals; 81.38% at Santeramo in Colle, n = 5 individuals), while between-colony overlap was low (19.12%; n = 2 colonies) and, after a randomization procedure, more spatially-segregated than expected by chance. Conclusions Modern biotelemetry offers huge amounts of data describing the space use of animal species. The use of intuitive and straightforward indices, like GOI, can be useful to promptly extract ecological information from such an amount of data (e.g. detecting change in space use over successive years, evaluating the reliability of various home-range estimators).

Space-use patterns by female striped skunks exposed to aggregations of simulated duck nests

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (9) ◽  
pp. 1604-1608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serge Larivière ◽  
François Messier
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Food Supplementation ◽  
Mephitis Mephitis ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Year Effect ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Range Overlap ◽  
Striped Skunks

We monitored space-use patterns and behaviour of female striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) during the spring and summer of 1995 simultaneously with the deployment of simulated duck nests (2.5–25/ha) in Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1995, home ranges of five female skunks averaged 2.3 km2 (SE = 0.5 km2), which was smaller (P = 0.01) than home ranges of females (n = 21) present in the same area in 1993–1994. Home-range overlap did not differ (P = 0.34) between 1993–1994 (71 ± 4%) and 1995 (75 ± 11%). Female skunks were nocturnal during all years, but were less active in 1995 than in 1993–1994 (P < 0.01). Patterns of habitat selection differed during the nest experiment: managed waterfowl-nesting areas were used less than wetlands in 1993–1994, but no significant difference in use of these two habitats was detected in 1995. Although we cannot ascertain a direct cause-and-effect relationship, owing to a possible year effect, the changes in space-use patterns of striped skunks exposed to aggregations of simulated nests are consistent with the literature on food-supplementation experiments. These results re-emphasize the importance of food in determining the space-use patterns of striped skunks.

scholarly journals Does the punishment fit the crime? Consequences and diagnosis of misspecified detection functions in Bayesian spatial capture-recapture modelling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumen Dey ◽  
Richard Bischof ◽  
Pierre P. A. Dupont ◽  
Cyril Milleret
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Relative Bias ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
List Type ◽  
Detection Function ◽  
Density Estimates ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Capture Recapture

AbstractSpatial capture-recapture (SCR) is now used widely to estimate wildlife densities. At the core of SCR models lies the detection function, linking individual detection probability to the distance from its latent activity center. The most common function (half-normal) assumes a bivariate normal space use and consequently detection pattern. This is likely an oversimplification and misrepresentation of real-life animal space use patterns, but studies have reported that density estimates are relatively robust to misspecified detection functions. However, information about consequences of such misspecification on space use parameters (e.g. home range area), as well as diagnostic tools to reveal it are lacking.We simulated SCR data under six different detection functions, including the half-normal, to represent a wide range of space use patterns. We then fit three different SCR models, with the three simplest detection functions (half-normal, exponential and half-normal plateau) to each simulated data set. We evaluated the consequences of misspecification in terms of bias, precision and coverage probability of density and home range area estimates. We also calculated Bayesian p-values with respect to different discrepancy metrics to assess whether these can help identify misspecifications of the detection function.We corroborate previous findings that density estimates are robust to misspecifications of the detection function. However, estimates of home range area are prone to bias when the detection function is misspecified. When fitted with the half-normal model, average relative bias of 95% kernel home range area estimates ranged between −25% and 26% depending on the misspecification. In contrast, the half-normal plateau model (an extension of the half-normal) returned average relative bias that ranged between −26% and −4%. Additionally, we found useful heuristic patterns in Bayesian p-values to diagnose the misspecification in detection function.Our analytical framework and diagnostic tools may help users select a detection function when analyzing empirical data, especially when space use parameters (such as home range area) are of interest. We urge development of additional custom goodness of fit diagnostics for Bayesian SCR models to help practitioners identify a wider range of model misspecifications.

scholarly journals ctmmweb: A graphical user interface for autocorrelation-informed home range estimation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin M. Calabrese ◽  
Christen H. Fleming ◽  
Michael J. Noonan ◽  
Xianghui Dong
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Kernel Density ◽  
R Package ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Tracking Data ◽  
Sampled Data ◽  
Convex Polygons ◽  
Range Estimation ◽  
Empirical Reality ◽  
Range Overlap

ABSTRACTEstimating animal home ranges is a primary purpose of collecting tracking data. All conventional home range estimators in widespread usage, including minimum convex polygons and kernel density estimators, assume independently sampled data. In stark contrast, modern GPS animal tracking datasets are almost always strongly autocorrelated. This incongruence between estimator assumptions and empirical reality leads to systematically underestimated home ranges. Autocorrelated kernel density estimation (AKDE) resolves this conflict by modeling the observed autocorrelation structure of tracking data during home range estimation, and has been shown to perform accurately across a broad range of tracking datasets. However, compared to conventional estimators, AKDE requires additional modeling steps and has heretofore only been accessible via the command-line ctmm R package. Here, we introduce ctmmweb, which provides a point-and-click graphical interface to ctmm, and streamlines AKDE, its prerequisite autocorrelation modeling steps, and a number of additional movement analyses. We demonstrate ctmmweb’s capabilities, including AKDE home range estimation and subsequent home range overlap analysis, on a dataset of four jaguars from the Brazilian Pantanal. We intend ctmmweb to open AKDE and related autocorrelation-explicit analyses to a wider audience of wildlife and conservation professionals.

scholarly journals Mechanistic home range analysis reveals drivers of space use patterns for a non‐territorial passerine

2020 ◽  
Vol 89 (12) ◽  
pp. 2763-2776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Ellison ◽  
Ben J. Hatchwell ◽  
Sarah J. Biddiscombe ◽  
Clare J. Napper ◽  
Jonathan R. Potts
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Range Analysis ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Home Range Analysis

Demography and home range of the eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii) in south-eastern Tasmania

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Mallick ◽  
Michael M. Driessen ◽  
Gregory J. Hocking
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Home Range ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Small Width ◽  
Live Trapping ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Two Populations

We used live-trapping to study the demography and movement of two populations of the eastern barred bandicoot, Perameles gunnii, in south-eastern Tasmania from 1992 to 1996. Densities were 0.35–2.35 animals ha–1. Sex ratios were male-dominated on Grid I and female-dominated on Grid II. The average body weight for sexual maturity was 700g for males and 680g for females, while the lowest recorded weight for a breeding female was 570g. Perameles gunnii was sexually dimorphic, with males having a greater body weight and pes length than females. Recruitment was 25.4–32.1%, residence 46.7–100.0%, and emigration 16.5–25.5% of the population. Three juveniles were recruited to the Grid I population, 55 to Grid II, with a steady decline in the number of juveniles recruited to Grid II over the four years of the study. Breeding occurred year-round. Mean litter size was 2.53, with 78.2% of all litters having either 2 or 3 young. Mean longevity for male and female P. gunnii was 7.91 and 10.54 months, respectively. Home ranges of males (4.29 ha) were significantly larger than those of females (2.34 ha), although this may represent a significant underestimate due to the small width of our grids (200m) relative to the home-range area. There was only moderate overlap (19.3%) between home ranges of males and females. The overlap between male/male home ranges (4.4%) was significantly less than the overlap between female/female home ranges (15.8%). Perameles gunnii carried both ticks and fleas, with flea infestation being significantly higher on Grid I than on Grid II. Both populations underwent a significant decline over the study period, apparently the result of the unusually dry conditions over the first 3 years of the study. A deterioration in conditions was associated with a steady loss of resident adults, declining recruitment of juveniles and an increase in the male/female sex ratio. The sex ratio of P. gunnii populations may provide a convenient index of habitat quality, with poor or deteriorating conditions apparently associated with a high or increasing numbers of males to females.

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