Abstract
AbstractIndividual patterns of habitat use emerge from behavioral decisions driven by interactions between landscape characteristics and individual traits. Individual traits, such as age and sex, influence the net gain of using habitats and associated resources, and thus the relationship between size and composition of the home range. However, the pathways from individual variation in home range size and composition to habitat selection are rarely fully explored. We investigated how habitat selection in moose (Alces alces) was a result of individual traits and home range characteristics, that is, we described the pathway from home range to habitat selection. The study was conducted at two spatial scales during two contrasting seasons. Home range size and composition varied with sex, with season, and to some extent with age. Males had larger home range size, and the composition of their home ranges changed more with home range size than for females. The general trend was that moose used habitats according to availability more in winter than in summer, that is, a weaker habitat selection in winter than in summer. Sex and age explained little of the variation in habitat selection, but sex had a pronounced effect on the relationship between home range size and composition. Because habitat availability (i.e., home range composition) is a component of habitat selection, it suggests that varying habitat use partly compensates for sex‐specific differences in home range composition, which in turn results from home range settlement. Hence, although males and females showed similar habitat selection, they differed in the underlying mechanisms generating the pattern of habitat selection. These complex interactions between individual traits and environmental variation have consequences for how we understand the relationships between landscape characteristics, individual behavior, and fitness.
Highlights
Individual variation in resource use reflects the cost–benefit trade-offs in behavioral decisions (Cattarino et al 2016)
We investigated how habitat selection in moose (Alces alces) was a result of individual traits and home range characteristics, that is, we described the pathway from home range to habitat selection
Home range composition–size relationship.—As expected, we found that relative habitat availability was related to home range size (Fig. 2, Appendix S1: Table S2)
Summary
Individual variation in resource use reflects the cost–benefit trade-offs in behavioral decisions (Cattarino et al 2016). Individuals often show large variation in how they trade-off among reproductive effort, predation avoidance, and energetic intake. Because such factors vary in space and time, we observe spatio-temporal variation in resource use both within and among individuals (Beyer et al 2010, Bjørneraas et al 2011). Such complex relationships among components of resource use affect the demography and dynamics of animal populations by influencing individual vital rates (Losier et al 2015, Bacon et al 2017). The behavioral mechanisms behind these differences are often unclear
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