Data from: Uncovering behavioural states from animal activity and site fidelity patterns

Citation
Mahoney PJ, Ebinger M, Jaeger M, Shivik JA, Young JK. 2017. Data from: Uncovering behavioural states from animal activity and site fidelity patterns. Movebank Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.7d8301h2
Abstract
(1) Space use by animals has important implications for individual fitness. However, resource requirements often vary throughout the course of a lifetime and are a reflection of the demands associated with daily tasks or specific life-history phases, from food acquisition to reproduction, and emphasize the need to classify resource selection relative to specific behavioural states. Site fidelity is often indicative of behaviours important for individual maintenance (e.g. foraging), species' life history (e.g. seasonal site selection), social communication (e.g. scent-marking) and species interactions (e.g. predation, competition). Thus, resolving site fidelity patterns associated with key behaviours is essential to accurately quantify behavioural-dependent resource needs and the fitness consequences of space use. (2) We propose a novel method for identifying site fidelity patterns in animal location data using a convex hull clustering program called R Animal Site Fidelity (rASF). We also provide a means of integrating activity as a measure of behavioural state. We demonstrate the utility of the approach in identifying cougar (Puma concolor) predation events, coyote (Canis latrans) den and rendezvous sites, and coyote territorial boundaries. (3) We parameterized rASF based on site fidelity characteristics that best characterized the clustering behaviour of interest and estimated behavioural state from either dual-axial accelerometer data or movement trajectory statistics. When behaviour was used in conjunction with cluster-specific metrics (duration, proportion of diurnal fixes and landscape composition), we could accurately predict prey species associated with cougar kills and differentiate pup-rearing from scent-marking sites in coyotes. (4) Site fidelity patterns and activities associated with animal revisitation will be key to identifying the behavioural motivations behind observed patterns of space use. Our approach provides an efficient, rigorous and repeatable means of identifying site fidelity patterns associated with specific behavioural states without the need for direct observations, which are often impossible to collect at large spatial scales and in dense habitat. As such, this framework has significant potential to inform theory in behavioural ecology while providing managers with better resolution on appropriate management targets associated with key aspects of a species' life history.
Keywords
Canis latrans,Puma concolor,animal movement,animal tracking,Canis latrans,clustering,cougar,coyote,denning,GPS logger,home range,mountain lion,predation,puma,Puma concolor,site fidelity,territoriality
Taxa
Taxon
Canis latrans
Coyote
Taxon
Puma concolor
Cougar, Puma, mountain lion
Sensors
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DOIs of related Publications
BibTex
@misc{001/1_7d8301h2,
  title = {Data from: Uncovering behavioural states from animal activity and site fidelity patterns},
  author = {Mahoney, PJ and Ebinger, M and Jaeger, M and Shivik, JA and Young, JK},
  year = {2017},
  URL = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.7d8301h2},
  doi = {doi:10.5441/001/1.7d8301h2},
  publisher = {Movebank data repository}
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
ID  - doi:10.5441/001/1.7d8301h2
T1  - Data from: Uncovering behavioural states from animal activity and site fidelity patterns
AU  - Mahoney, Peter J.
AU  - Ebinger, Michael
AU  - Jaeger, Michael
AU  - Shivik, John A.
AU  - Young, Julie K.
Y1  - 2017/10/23
KW  - Canis latrans
KW  - accelerometer
KW  - Puma concolor
KW  - animal movement
KW  - animal tracking
KW  - Canis latrans
KW  - clustering
KW  - cougar
KW  - coyote
KW  - denning
KW  - GPS logger
KW  - home range
KW  - mountain lion
KW  - predation
KW  - puma
KW  - Puma concolor
KW  - site fidelity
KW  - territoriality
KW  - Canis latrans
KW  - Puma concolor
PB  - Movebank data repository
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.7d8301h2
DO  - doi:10.5441/001/1.7d8301h2
ER  -
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