Personality traits shape individual perceptions of risks and rewards, and so, should affect how animals value and use their environment. Evidence is emerging that personality affects foraging, space use, and exploitation of novel environments such as urban habitat. But the influence of personality is also hypothesized to be sex-dependent when primary motivation for space use differs between sexes, as often occurs in polygynous species. We tested the influence of personality traits, interacting with sex, on space use by the polygynous common brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula, in an urban-woodland boundary in Sydney, Australia. We quantified personality traits, including exploration, using behavioral assays in an artificial arena. We also GPS-tracked free-ranging individuals, and measured range size, core area: home range, and proportional urban range. We found that personality traits affected space use either as a main effect or, as predicted, an interaction with sex. More exploratory animals, regardless of sex, had higher core area: home range ratios and proportionally larger ranges within urban habitat. However, less exploratory females yet more exploratory males had larger ranges. Our findings provide new insight into movement ecology by demonstrating, for the first time, the sex-dependent influence of personality. The demonstrated influence of personality on urban use by possums also suggests a personality filter for wildlife, as populations transition into urban areas. Finally, as individuals at the interface between urban and natural habitat are also a conduit between the two, a corollary of our findings is that there may be personality-mediated spread of disease across this boundary.

Migration allows animals to live in resource-rich but seasonally variable environments. Because of the costs of migration, there is selective pressure to capitalize on variation in weather to optimize migratory performance. To test the degree to which migratory performance (defined as speed of migration) of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) was determined by age-and season-specific responses to variation in weather, we analyzed 1,863 daily tracks (n ¼ 83 migrant eagles) and 8,047 hourly tracks (n ¼ 83) based on 15 min GPS telemetry data from Golden Eagles and 277 hourly tracks based on 30 s data (n ¼ 37). Spring migrant eagles traveled 139.75 6 82.19 km day À1 (mean 6 SE; n ¼ 57) and 25.59 6 11.75 km hr À1 (n ¼ 55). Autumn migrant eagles traveled 99.14 6 59.98 km day À1(n ¼ 26) and 22.18 6 9.18 km hr À1 (n ¼ 28). Weather during migration varied by season and by age class. During spring, best-supported daily and hourly models of 15 min data suggested that migratory performance was influenced most strongly by downward solar radiation and that older birds benefited less from flow assistance (tailwinds). During autumn, best-supported daily and hourly models of 15 min data suggested that migratory performance was influenced most strongly by south-north winds and by flow assistance, again less strongly for older birds. In contrast, models for hourly performance based on data collected at 30 s intervals were not well described by a single model, likely reflecting eagles' rapid responses to the many weather conditions they experienced. Although daily speed of travel was similar for all age classes, younger birds traveled at faster hourly speeds than did adults. Our analyses uncovered strong, sometimes counterintuitive, relationships among weather, experience, and migratory flight, and they illustrate the significance of factors other than age in determining migratory performance. Keywords: Aquila chrysaetos, Golden Eagle, GPS telemetry, migratory performance Rôles contre-intuitifs de l'expérience et des conditions météorologiques sur la performance migratoire RÉSUMÉ La migration permet aux animaux de vivre dans des environnements riches en ressources mais variables d'une saisonà l'autre. En raison des coûts de la migration, il existe une pression sélective pour tirer profit des variations météorologiques afin d'optimiser la performance migratoire. Afin d'examinerà quel degré la performance migratoire (définie commeétant la vitesse de migration) d'Aquila chrysaetos est déterminée par des réponses spécifiquesà l'âge et aux saisons face aux variations météorologiques, nous avons analysé 1863 tracés quotidiens (n ¼ 83 aigles migrateurs) et 8047 tracés horaires (n ¼ 83) provenant de données télémétriques GPS aux 15 min de cette espèce, et 277 tracés horaires basés sur des données aux 30 s (n ¼ 37). Au printemps, les aigles migrateurs se sont déplacés sur 139,75 6 82,19 km/jour (6SE; n ¼ 57) et 25,59 6 11,75 km/h (n ¼ 55).À l'automne, les aigles migrateurs ont parcouru 99,14 6 59,98 km/jour (n ¼ 26) et 22,18 6 9,18 km...

Habitat fragmentation changes landscape patterns and can disrupt many important ecological processes. Movement allows individuals to find resource patches to maintain their fitness and habitat fragmentation can disrupt this process. We explored the ecological impact of habitat fragmentation on movement and space use of a specialist folivore, the koala Phascolarctos cinereus. We GPS tracked koala movements within a fragmented agricultural landscape. We calculated the total distance moved across four months and the number of core patches by each koala. We used four metrics (proximity, functional connectivity, clumpiness, perimeter‐to‐area fractal dimension) to quantify landscape fragmentation within koala home ranges and determine its effects on movement and space use. Functional connectivity had the greatest effect on individual movement and space use. Decreasing connectivity led to longer and more direct movements by koalas and more core patches within an individual home range. Our study provides insight into the effects of habitat fragmentation on animal movement and space use, which can be used by wildlife managers to plan and manage landscapes more effectively. We conclude that restoring or protecting resource patches to promote greater functional connectivity will reduce the costs associated with the isolation of resource patches for species occupying fragmented landscapes. By providing a quantitative relationship between habitat connectivity and movement and space use costs, our results enable managers to set restoration targets, by identifying the most effective way to provide the functional connectivity minimizing the negative impact on focal species.