Chapter 5 - Analysis of Animal Space Use and Movements

Abstract

Animal space use and movements are best understood through direct observation. This chapter describes a variety of techniques used to analyze animal space use, including home range estimation, analysis of site fidelity, and animal interactions. It also provides limitations of using many traditional techniques. The chapter provides a discussion of modeling animal movements using a combination of advanced descriptive and visualization approaches, general movement models, and biological models. The importance of sample size and autocorrelation of data in estimating home ranges and animal movements cannot be overemphasized. When considering tradeoffs between sample size and independence, obtaining an adequate sample size is more important than independence between data points. Any analysis of radiotelemetry data must consider the full range of biological and environmental factors that may impact the results. Home range estimation and animal movement analyses must answer difficult questions regarding the internal anatomy of home range boundaries and movement pathways through the judicious use of biological and environmental information. Also, radiotelemetry studies should go beyond simple, general descriptions and use a model-driven approach to examine the key factors determining why and how an animal uses space.