Female Home Range Research Articles

Home range of stoats (Mustela erminea) in podocarp forest, south Westland, New Zealand: implications for a control strategy

The home range of stoats (Mustela erminea) was determined as part of a programme to protect Okarito brown kiwi chicks (Apteryx australis) ‘Okarito’, from predation. Twenty-seven stoats were fitted with radio-transmitters and tracked in two podocarp (Podocarpaceae) forests, in south Westland, New Zealand, from July 1997 to May 1998. Home-range area was determined for 19 animals by minimum convex polygons and restricted-edge polygons, and core areas were determined by hierarchical cluster analysis. The mean home ranges of males across all seasons calculated by minimum convex polygon (210 28 ha ( s.e.)) and restricted-edge polygon (176 29 ha) were significantly larger than those of females across all seasons (89 14 ha and 82 12 ha). The mean home range of males calculated by minimum convex polygon during the breeding season (256 38 ha) was significantly larger than the mean home range pooled across the non-breeding seasons (149 16 ha), whereas that calculated by restricted-edge polygon was not significantly different. The mean home range of females during the breeding season was not significantly different from that in the non-breeding seasons when estimated by either method. Overlap of home ranges was observed within and between sexes in all seasons, with the greatest proportion of home range overlap being male–female. The mean home range of females in spring and summer is used to guide the spacing of control stations.

Female home range size and the evolution of social organization in macropod marsupials

Summary1. Traditional explanations for interspecific variation in home range size are based almost exclusively on analysis of northern hemisphere eutherian mammals. These suggest that variation in body size is the most important factor, while climate and diet are less important. The generality of these explanations is tested using a novel database on macropod marsupials (kangaroos and allies).2. We found a 490‐fold difference in home range size and a 50‐fold difference in body weight amongst macropods. In agreement with studies on eutherians, female home range size was strongly correlated with body weight.3. However, unlike the pattern in eutherians, climate was more strongly associated with home range size than was body weight: annual rainfall explained more than half of the variation, while group size (6%) and population density (8%) were minor explanatory variables, and female body weight explained no further variation.4. When we used a phylogeny‐based comparative method, annual rainfall explained 32% of the variation and body size a further 16%.5. Sex differences in home range size were not explained by body size dimorphism, but were strongly related to rainfall and less strongly related to the degree of female home range overlap. Species with large sex differences in home range size lived in high‐rainfall habitats where female ranges were small.6. We suggest that climate has been a key factor in social evolution of macropods. In species inhabiting productive habitats, small female home ranges allow males to overlap with more females by increasing home range size. Males often compete for females by searching widely. In less productive habitats, males cannot further increase or defend their already large home ranges, resulting in similar‐sized ranges in both sexes. Where female home range overlap is high, males need not increase home ranges as much, but this effect is secondary to that of climate.7. In agreement with the theory that competitive searching by males is not necessarily related to body size, species with extreme size dimorphism had no sex difference in home range size, and species with extreme home range differences between the sexes showed no particular pattern of dimorphism.8. Variation among macropod species in home range size and social organization is more closely correlated with variation in habitat productivity, and is less related to body size, diet, density and group size, than predicted by eutherian‐based explanations.

Female home range size and the evolution of social organization in macropod marsupials

Female home range size and the evolution of social organization in macropod marsupials

Ecology and conservation of the Milos viper, Macrovipera schweizeri (Werner, 1935)

Abstract The Milos viper (Macrovipera schweizeri) is nocturnal from early summer until mid-September. The typical habitat was maquis terrain with small and large bushes on gravel or rocky ground. Telemetric studies showed that cryptic basking behaviour was used during 23.5% of the localisations, and a preference for large bushes (77.7%). The mean distance moved between two succeeding days was 28.5 m (with s_x, of 47.9), and in general, the male home range covered an area of 10 to 20 ha, while the female home range was smaller. Hibernacula were south facing and situated in the middle of the home ranges. Population density was 50 adult vipers per km2 in the optimal habitats. The total population for western Milos was estimated to be around 2,500 adult vipers during the study period (1993-98). The present total population on Milos seems to be below 3,000 adult animals. The species has been isolated since the Pliocene, and adapted to a diet of passerine birds. A pattern of twice-a-year foraging during spring and autumn bird migrations was highlighted. During spring, the vipers tend to be concentrated around water pools; in the dry autumn nights they climb up trees for resting birds. In years with a cold spring or autumn, critical situations may occur with starvation, resulting in cyclic population patterns. Mid-May is the mating period. The female reproductive cycle is biennial. The sex ratio is nearly equal. Around 600 specimens reach adulthood and participate in the reproductive activities each year. Mining and fires destroy habitat. The yearly estimated removal by man and road killing of vipers is up to 500-600 adult specimens. Thus, the input and out-take of adult specimens is of the same magnitude, and equal to a yearly 25% turnover. This indicates a very delicate balance, and even a small change that increases the removed number can lead towards a rapid extinction. A conservation program is urgently needed and should include the establishment of protected areas, the closing of roads for night-time driving, and prohibition of increased mining activities.

Large male territories in a low‐density population of roe deer Capreolus capreolus with small female home ranges

Two hypotheses regarding roe deer spacing in low‐density areas during the breeding season are: 1) that male territory size is equal to that of the female home range size or 2) that male territory size is larger than the female home range. I tested the two hypotheses using data on the home range sizes of nine female, and the territory sizes of 12 male roe deer radio‐tracked during the summers of 1994–1996 in the Lier valley, southern Norway. There was no support for hypothesis 1, as male territory size was 1.5–1.9 times larger than female home ranges after correcting for altitude. Contradictory results in the literature regarding the effect of density on male roe deer territory size suggest that density alone does not satisfactorily predict roe deer spacing. I present the female dispersion hypothesis which presumes that as the area occupied by females decreases (due to high resource levels), the cost‐effectiveness of male territoriality increases. Thus, the territory size of roe deer males, relative to female home range size, is expected to be largest when females are divided into local spatial units and female home range is relatively small. Comparative observations in two low‐density populations seem to support this hypothesis.

SPACE-USE RESPONSES TO HABITAT FRAGMENTATION AND CONNECTIVITY IN THE ROOT VOLEMICROTUS OECONOMUS

We radiotracked 184 reproductive active root vole Microtus oeconomus individuals in 12 experimentally fragmented populations to test predictions regarding responses in spatiosocial organization to habitat fragmentation and connectivity. We used two genetically distinct strains with different intrinsic characteristics to test explicitly for interactions between spacing behavior and the degree of habitat fragmentation and connectivity. The experimental habitat configurations were created by mowing enclosed meadow plots so that habitat (meadow) fragments were imbedded in a hostile, barren matrix of nonhabitat. We used three types of habitat patch configurations to contrast two levels of fragmentation (large vs. small habitat fragments) and two levels of connectivity (small isolated vs. small corridor connected habitat fragments), while keeping the total area of habitat and distances between fragments constant. The least fragmented systems contained two habitat fragments large enough to encompass several female home ranges (large fragment plots). Both of the two other habitat configurations contained six small habitat fragments, each of the size corresponding to the home range of a single female. The two small fragment configurations differed with respect to connectivity in that one configuration had 0.5 m wide corridors connecting two triplets of patches (corridor plots), while the other small patch configuration had no corridors (small fragment plots). Four population replicates (two of each root vole strain) of each configuration were employed over two years. Home range area estimates showed rather complex responses to habitat fragmentation depending on strain and sex. This was expected as the two strains and males and females had been previously shown to exhibit different space requirements. Core areas were, however, unaffected by fragmentation pattern at the spatial scale employed. The most pronounced and consistent responses to habitat fragmentation concerned movement rates for both sexes and the degree of space sharing between matrilineally related and unrelated females. The frequency of home range overlaps (irrespective of matrilineal relatedness and strain) was highest in the large-fragment plots and lowest in the small-fragment plots. The degree of overlap between matrilineally related females showed a reverse trend, however, indicating that space sharing was more directed towards kin in the most fragmented systems. The rate of interfragment movements increased with habitat fragmentation. Corridors induced more individuals to move between the smallest fragments. Males generally moved more frequently between fragments than did females. Our results match the hypothesis predicting fusion and fission responses based on intrinsic social mechanisms in patchy populations.

Resource distribution, female home range dispersion and male spatial interactions: group structure in a solitary carnivore

We monitored 74 (41 male, 33 female) radiocollared raccoons (Procyon lotor) from February 1990 to July 1992 on the Welder Wildlife Refuge, Texas, to relate male and female space use to each other and to the spatial distribution of water, a critical resource for raccoons. Female home ranges were spatially aggregated early in the study, when standing water occurred in only a few, widely separated patches on the study site, but were randomly distributed during seasons when water was more widely distributed. Adult females generally foraged and rested independently of other adults. Most adult males were arranged in spatial groups whose home ranges overlapped little with those of adjacent groups. These groups were usually composed of three to four individuals; Doncaster's (1990,J. theor. Biol.,143, 431–443) test for dynamic interaction and visual observations showed that group members tended to associate positively during resting and foraging activities in all seasons. Among raccoons, as among many other mammals, female spatial patterns are apparently determined primarily by resource distribution, whereas male patterns are influenced by the distribution of females.

Movements of Female Black Bears in Relation to Landscape Vegetation Type in Southern Quebec

Few studies have examined the influence of distribution of vegetation types at the landscape level on movement of bears in and around a protected area. We analyzed movement and spatial use patterns of 19 adult female black bears (Ursus americanus) in relation to distribution of vegetation types in and near La Mauricie National Park (LMNP), Quebec, Canada, between July 1990 and December 1992. The home range of radiotracked females included a core area of 11.6 km 2 in 1991 (n = 9) and 13.3 km 2 (n = 14) in 1992. The proportion of locations in this core area was correlated (P < 0.050) with the availability of early-successional stands and maple-beech forests that provide 2 important food sources for bears (i.e., soft mast, beechnuts). In 1991-92, bears were located more often (P < 0.050) inside the park between late April and mid-July than during the period of soft-mast ripening between mid-July and mid-September. The declining use of the park during the period of soft-mast ripening was caused by the low occurrence of early-successional stands inside the park, and increased the vulnerability of female black bears to human-related mortality. This vulnerability would probably decrease if early-successional stands were maintained inside the park, and if a surrounding buffer zone was established. In this buffer zone, agriculture and residential developments should be prohibited, and hunting should be restricted to the spring period.

Spatial and Breeding Relationships of the Lizard, Anolis Carolinensis: Evidence of Intrasexual Selection

1. We used continuous 8-day monitoring to document the spatial and mating relationships of free-ranging Anolis carolinensis lizards at each of seven habitat-delineated study sites. 2. We found a polygynous social structure, consisting of a male and 2-6 resident females (x = 3.3), on each site. 3. Spatially, both sexes utilized all available perch heights and diameters on the study sites (habitat generalists), though females tended to perch slightly higher and on significantly thinner substrata (x = 2.4 m, 3.4 em, respectively) than males (x = 2.3 m, 5.3 em, respectively). 4. Mean home range volume was eight fold greater for males (69 m3) than females (8 m3). Male home ranges were exclusive of other males (0% overlap), while neighboring female home range volumes overlapped an average of 18%. 5. Male snout-vent length (SVL) was positively correlated with male home range size (area, volume) and with number of resident females, but not with resident female SVL or resident female home range size. 6. Half of 397 male-female encounters led to close contacts in which males influenced courtship outcomes by: recognizing receptive and non-receptive females (differential display rate); bypassing 69% (85/123) of mating opportunities with receptive females; and copulating only when courtship was male-initiated. 7. Larger males (who also had larger territories and more females) courted less per female, but with longer duration, and had longer copulatory durations than smaller males. 8. Male frequency of copulation (x = once/1.4 days), however, had no correlates with measured variables; females were mated without bias to male or female attributes. 9. Male potential reproductive rate (PRR), estimated from the number of copulations with different females, positively correlated with male SVL. Female PRR, estimated from the inter-mating interval (i.e. the single-egg clutch interval), did not correlate with any measured male or female trait. 10. Our data, in concert with other field studies and A. carolinensis life history traits, document a polygynous mating system in which females seem to fit a 'no cost, neutral-mate-choice' model, and males (in response to sedentary, contiguously distributed females who clutch at weekly intervals over a 4-month period) employ territorial contests within an endurance rivalry as a prime mechanism for mate assortment.

Male territoriality, female range use, and spatial organisation of capercaillie Tetrao urogallus leks

This paper compares spacing behaviour of male and female capercaillie Tetrao urogallus in the German Alps, to those reported from the boreal zone, and discusses their implications for models of lek evolution. Based on 23 males and 13 females radio‐tracked during April‐May 1988–1992, the size, arrangement, and overlap of home ranges of males, and home ranges, lek visitation, and location of nest sites of females are described in relation to habitat, lek location, and the birds' age. Independently of sex and age, capercaillie preferred old forest habitats. With the exception of juveniles and some subadults that used large home ranges and visited several leks, males occupied permanent but overlapping territories clumped within 1 km of lek centres. Territorial traits were most pronounced in the oldest, dominant males: they used the smallest territories closest to the lek centre, used the central parts of their territories exclusively and showed the strongest site tenacity; nevertheless they tolerated subordinates within their territories. Females stayed farther from leks than males, most visited several leks, and nested at random distances from leks. Independently of habitat, multi‐lek females used larger home ranges than single‐lek females. The great variation in female home range size did not agree with Bradbury's hotspot and female‐preference hypotheses, indicating that female home range size may be unsuitable in revealing clues about lek evolution in capercaillie.

Spatial organization and social relations in the Eurasian lynx population in Bialowieza Primeval Forest, Poland

The home range size, spacing pattern and intraspecific relations in the lynx Lynx lynx (Linnaeus, 1758) were studied in Bialowieza Primeval Forest (eastern Poland), in 1991-1996. Eighteen lynx (11 males and 7 females) were captured and radio-collared. The mean autumn-winter home range size was 165 km2 for males and 94 km2 for females. In spring-summer, it was 143 and 55 km2, respectively. The mean life-time home ranges were 248 km2 for males and 133 km2 for females. Male home range size did not change significantly between autumn-winter and spring-summer seasons, however, their ranges icreased by 40-90% just before and during the mating season (December-March). The home range of females in the autumn-winter season was almost twice as large compared with the spring-summer period (94 vs 55 km2). The smallest home ranges were observed in breeding females during the two months after parturition (10 km) and these grew until the following spring. The home ranges calculated for 5-month periods shifted on average 4 km in adult males, 2.7 in adult females and 4.7 km in subadult males. One of the farthest shifts in the adult male range (8.7 km) was explained by the death of a neighbouring resident. The average overlap between adult males' ranges was 30%, while those between females was 6%. The largest overlap occured between adult males and females (62%) as well as between adult and subadult males (75%). The lynx showed a tendency to avoid each other. The average distance between neighbouring adult males was 11.6 km, and they were never found closer than 1 km to each other. The average distance between neighbouring females was 8.1 km. Besides a few meetings between males and females (during and outside the mating season), they were located separately (4.4 km from each other, on average). In 93% of the cases an adult female was recorded with her dependent kittens. It was concluded that home range size and spacing pattern in male lynx depend on the distribution of females, whereas spacing in females was determined by food-related factors.

Territorial Behaviour and Reproductive Success of Bank Vole Clethrionomys glareolus Females

1. Although spacing behaviour in small mammals has been studied extensively, the ultimate function of territoriality in females is frequently under debate. Furthermore, almost no data exists on how territorial behaviour of females changes during reproductive cycles and how that affects their reproductive success. We studied these questions in large outdoor enclosures using the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus as a study species. 2. Home range dynamics of females and behaviour of territory owners against intruder females were determined during four distinct periods of the reproductive cycle: (i) when females were non-pregnant, (ii) in early pregnancy, (iii) in late pregnancy and (iv) when females were lactating. 3. Home range size and home range overlap of females decreased from period (i) to period (iv) simultaneously when nearest neighbour distance increased. So, at the time of parturition female home range size (foraging area) was at its smallest but territory size (breeding area) at its largest. 4. Attacks of owner females increased and amicable behaviour decreased during the reproductive cycle. Attacks tended to correlate positively and amicable behaviour negatively with home range size. 5. The size of a female's home range significantly correlated with her litter size. However, the weight of females did not correlate with their home range size or litter size. 6. During lactation, nearest neighbour distance correlated negatively with the number of weanlings. Further, home range overlap did not have an effect on the number of weanlings. So, in contrast to an earlier study by Mappes et al. we did not find support for infanticide directly affecting reproductive success of females. That might be due to synchronous breeding in our study females in contrast to females in Mappes et al. 7. Our results indicate that space-resource (large home range) and thus probably food may be an important determinant of litter size in the bank voles. Aggressive defence of a territory may have a role in determining the amount of resources available for reproduction and thus the reproductive success. 8. Our study gives new evidence both for and against the two hypotheses for function of female territoriality and suggests that they are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Spatial and Temporal Interaction of Male and Female Grizzly Bears in Northwestern Montana

Spatial requirements of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) in Montana are poorly understood, yet habitat management is based on attributes of female home ranges. We evaluated home range size, overlap, and spatial/temporal use of overlap zones (OZ) of grizzly bears inhabiting the Swan Mountains of Montana. Annual home ranges of adult males were larger (x = 768 km 2 ), and adult female ranges smaller (x = 125 km 2 ), than those of subadults. Overlap in annual home ranges of adjacent female grizzly bears averaged 24% (37 km 2 ), varied from 0 to 94%, and was less when one or both females had young. Female home range overlap was greatest when one of both members of a pair were subadults. Male home range overlap with females averaged 19% for adult males and 30% for subadult males. Most simultaneous use of the OZ occurred during summer. We investigated both spatial and temporal interaction of grizzly bears having overlapping home ranges. Thirty-seven of 49 (76%) adjacent female pairs showed symmetrical and random spatial use of the OZ indicating lack of territoriality. In one of 49 (2%) cases, simultaneous use of the OZ exceeded solitary use. Temporal use of the OZ was random in 44 of 49 (90%) female interactions. Avoidance behavior within the OZ of home ranges was indicated for 1 of 2 pairs of sisters following dispersal from their mother. Most male/female pairs exhibited symmetrical and random use of the OZ. In 12 of 21 (57%) cases where the female home range was enclosed within a male range, the male exhibited spatial attraction to the female range. There was no evidence of spatial avoidance of the OZ for male pairs. Habitat availability in different portions of overlapping home ranges helped explain the observed patterns of spatial and temporal interaction among grizzly bears. The overlap zone of home ranges had higher proportional availability of avalanche chutes, rock/forb lands, and slabrock than home range areas outside the OZ. These home range and behavioral characteristics occurred at a female-dominated population density of 2-3 solitary grizzly bears/100 km 2 .

Black hole models of ungulate lek size and distribution

Models of lek breeding based on female preferences for mating with high quality males have predicted that leks should be evenly distributed at distances approximating the diameter of female home ranges, and empirical studies have cited lek distribution in support of these models. In the ‘black hole’ model of lek evolution, leks arise because clusters of male territories retain mobile females; female mating preferences are not assumed. Here this model is extended to include sufficient space and animals for multiple leks to form, and it is used to generate predictions about the size and spacing of leks in different populations. Like models based on female choice, black hole models predict that leks will be evenly spaced at distances of approximately one female home range diameter, that lek size will increase with increasing male density, and that females will be concentrated near the centre of leks where male territories will be smallest. The addition of female copying to the model decreases the tendency for leks to form, but this influence is mitigated by an upper limit on harem size. Since similar lek distributions are predicted by contrasting models, the even distribution of leks may imply some mechanism causing females to aggregate at the largest accessible cluster of territories, but does not clarify the nature of this mechanism.

Spatial organization of leopards Panthera pardus in Taï National Park, Ivory Coast: is rainforest habitat a ‘tropical haven’?

Between June 1992 and July 1994, two female leopards and one male were radio‐tracked. Regular locations of the leopards, the use of a phototrap, and spoor data, provided the first detailed ecological data about this elusive felid in tropical rainforest habitat. The home range of the male was 86 km2, those of the two females were 29 km2 and 22 km2, respectively. One female's home range was fully included within that of the male. Home ranges of neighbouring residents were not exclusive. Population density is estimated at one leopard per 9‐14 km2. Intraspecific interactions were rare and predominantly involved mating. The large size of the home ranges and a relatively high population density imply large overlap between adjacent resident leopards' ranges. Differences in the leopard's land tenure system between the rainforest and the savanna are discussed. Doubt is cast on the validity of the often‐quoted estimate of one leopard per 1 km2 in tropical rainforest habitat.

Age and Gender-Related Differences in the Social Behavior and Mating Success of Free-Living Collared Lizards, Crotaphytus collaris

Field studies on collared lizards at Lake Arcadia Dam, Edmond, Oklahoma, revealed that the social and spatial behavior of individuals differed depending on gender and male age. Body size measurements of known lizards over a threeyear period revealed that females > 70 mm SVL at the beginning of the activity season in April become reproductively active in their first year, males > 100 mm in April are two years and older (adults), whereas smaller males (60-90 mm) are in their first full year (yearlings). Experimental introduction of female intruders onto occupied female home ranges elicited aggression in four of 17 trials. However, female home ranges overlapped one another greatly, and intrasexual female aggression occurred infrequently. These results suggest that female collared lizards at Arcadia Lake do not defend exclusive territories but that occasional aggression may play some other role in the social relationships among adjacent females. Areas occupied by adjacent adult males overlapped little and were defended against other adult males primarily by high rates of travel punctuated with frequent display. Yearling males occupied nondefended home ranges within adult male territories by adopting subordinate tactics characterized by low rates of display and travel and rapid retreat from adult males. The home ranges of approximately 60% of the females were overlapped by the territory of a single adult male. In cases of multiple adult male overlap, one of the males overlapped a larger percentage of the female home range and interacted more frequently with these females than did the other adult males. Most female home ranges were also overlapped partially by as many as four yearling males. Adult males initiated encounters with females much more frequently than did yearlings, and females were almost always receptive to adult males whereas they more often withdrew from yearling males. Estimates based on the relative frequencies of interactions of females with each overlapping male indicated that annual male mating success was correlated with age class, snout-vent length, hourly frequency of social acts initiated, and rate of travel, such that mating success of adult males far exceeded that of yearlings. Among adult males alone, one estimate of mating success was weakly correlated only with the number of females on territories. Our results show that, even though male mating success is low during their first year, yearlings remain on adult male territories by adopting subordinate behavior patterns, perhaps because this tactic enhances future opportunities to inherit territories and mates.

Nesting ecology, female home range and activity, and population size-class structure of the gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, on the Katharine Ordway Preserve, Putnam County, Florida

From 1989 to 1991, I conducted field observations on life history characteristics of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) on the Katharine Ordway Preserve in north-central Florida. Fourteen adult females were radio-instrumented for up to 505 days to determine home range size, movement, and activity patterns. Home range estimates varied greatly among individual females ranging between 0.002 and 1.435 ha Burrow densities ranged between 2.42 and 10.56 ha. The overall population size-class structure was skewed toward adults (&gt; 210 mm carapace length), suggesting a stable or declining population. Over three consecutive nesting seasons, 2008 burrow aprons were checked for eggs. Less than two percent of the aprons contained nests and only two of 18 gravid females deposited their eggs at burrow entrances. The mean clutch size in 1990, at the height of a long term regional drought. was significantly different from 1991, when seasonal rainfall was near average. Clutch size was positively correlated with female carapace length although carapace length explained only a small amount of the variance. However, a negative correlation between burrow width and clutch size at nests located in burrow aprons suggests that these nests may have been deposited by nonresident females.

Ecological theory and endangered species: ed P. Kareiva, Ecology, 75(3), 1994, pp 583–626

Broad-acre subdivisions constitute an increasing form of residential development known as exurbia. Despite significant impacts on biodiversity, exurbia is critically understudied in Australia. Exurban developments are distributed non-uniformly around city margins and are typically clustered adjacent to desirable landscape elements, such as forests and water. Forested peninsulas are thus popular sites for exurban development. Developments on these relatively insular regions have the potential to reduce local populations of species with limited dispersal capabilities and an aversion to exurbia. Two exurban regions of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, one a peninsula and one inland, were surveyed for flightless mammals using spotlight observations and a survey of landowners. The frequencies of mammals within exurbia were compared with their frequencies in wildlands and tested against life history traits. Within the exurbanised peninsula, there were disproportionately fewer individuals of species with large home range sizes. Overall, two very fecund species, including a threatened native bandicoot, Perameles gunnii, were more frequent in exurbia than in wildlands. We cannot conclude that any of female body mass, female home range size and fecundity can provide consistently strong predictions of the likelihood of negative or positive effects of urbanisation, but we can conclude that each of these variables can be predictive within particular regional and faunal contexts. We suggest that, until further information is gained, planners could use fecundity as a predictor of mammal survival in exurbia, except where the exurban area is isolated from other areas that contain native vegetation, in which case, female home range negatively predicts survival.

Insect secretions determine habitat use patterns by a female lesser mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus).

The lesser mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) is one of six sympatric nocturnal primates found in the Kirindy forest, west-Madagascar. Each of these species is reported to consume a secretion produced during the austral winter by the Homopteran insect Flatidia coccinea. In July and August 1993 a study was conducted to determine the importance of this food resource in the ecology of female M. murinus. At this study site, animals were distributed only along the forest edge where insect secretions are significantly more abundant than in the forest interior. Abundances of arboreal and nocturnal flying insects do not differ between the forest edge and interior. Experimental resource removal from a 25 × 25 m plot in one female's home range caused a significant shift in the animals' pattern of habitat use while no change occurred in a control plot. Thus, at this study site and time of year, the ranging behavior of a female M. murinus was strongly influenced by the presence of Homopteran secretions. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Behavioral tactics, dominance, and copulatory success among male fox squirrels

The behavioral tactics and mating behavior of male fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) were studied in a small population of uniquely marked, free-ranging individuals during the winter breeding season in 1986 to 1990. Twelve mating bouts were observed with an average of 5.83 males. Two alternative male reproductive tactics were active pursuit and satellite. Active-pursuit males were the most dominant squirrels that fought for and defended proximity to the estrous female. Satellite males were subordinates that remained dispersed in the estrous female's home range but avoided interaction with active-pursuit males. Active pursuit accounted for more copulations than the satellite tactic (0.83 vs 0.23 copulations/male/bout) with the copulations distributed more evenly among active-pursuit males (CV = 133.7) than among satellite males (CV = 191.3). Satellite males copulated with a female after she avoided the contest competition among active-pursuit males. Although the tactics were dominance-based, dominance rank was not directly correlated with mating success. However, highranking, dominant males gained access to and mounted more females than lower ranking males. The alternative mating tactics of male fox squirrels may be important in mediating intermale mating success.