E-scape: Consumer-specific landscapes of energetic resources derived from stable isotope analysis and remote sensing.

Abstract

Energetic resources and habitat distribution are inherently linked. Energetic resource availability is a major driver of the distribution of consumers, but estimating how much specific habitats contribute to the energetic resource needs of a consumer can be problematic.We present a new approach that combines remote sensing information and stable isotope ecology to produce maps of energetic resources (E‐scapes). E‐scapes project species‐specific resource use information onto the landscape to classify areas based on energetic importance.Using our E‐scapes, we investigated the relationship between energetic resource distribution and white shrimp distribution and how the scale used to generate the E‐scape mediated this relationship. E‐scapes successfully predicted the size, abundance, biomass, and total energy of a consumer in salt marsh habitats in coastal Louisiana, USA at scales relevant to the movement of the consumer.Our E‐scape maps can be used alone or in combination with existing models to improve habitat management and restoration practices and have potential to be used to test fundamental movement theory.