Functional responses in animal movement explain spatial heterogeneity in animal–habitat relationships

Mason, Tom H. E.; Fortin, Daniel

doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12682

Cited by 34 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…As mentioned previously, we concluded that caribou exhibit a negative response to linear features, which was similar to other studies demonstrating the impacts of human alterations on woodland caribou behavior and demography (DeCesare et al. , Mason and Fortin ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

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Functional responses in habitat selection: clarifying hypotheses and interpretations

Holbrook

Olson

DeCesare

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

113

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A fundamental challenge in habitat ecology and management is understanding the mechanisms generating animal distributions. Studies of habitat selection provide a lens into such mechanisms, but are often limited by unrealistic assumptions. For example, most studies assume that habitat selection is constant with respect to the availability of resources, such that habitat use remains proportional to availability. To the contrary, a growing body of work has shown the fallacy of this assumption, indicating that animals modify their behavior depending on the context at broader scales. This has been termed a functional response in habitat selection. Furthermore, a diversity of methods is employed to model functional responses in habitat selection, with little attention to how methodology might affect scientific and conservation conclusions. Here, we first review the conceptual and statistical foundations of methods currently used to model functional responses and clarify the ecological tests evaluated within each approach. We then use a combination of simulated and empirical data sets to evaluate the similarities and differences among approaches. Importantly, we identified multiple statistical issues with the most widely applied approaches to understand functional responses, including: (1) a complex and important role of random‐ or individual‐level intercepts in adjusting individual‐level regression coefficients as resource availability changes and (2) a sensitivity of results to poorly informed individual‐level coefficients estimated for animals with low availability of a given resource. Consequently, we provide guidance on applying approaches that are insensitive to these issues with the goal of advancing our understanding of animal habitat ecology and management. Finally, we characterize the management implications of assuming similarity between the current approaches to model functional responses with two empirical data sets of federally threatened species: Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) in the United States and woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Canada. Collectively, our assessment helps clarify the similarities and differences among current approaches and, therefore, assists the integration of functional responses into the mainstream of habitat ecology and management.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…, Tardy et al. , Mason and Fortin ). If there is no evidence of selection or avoidance (i.e., β 1 and

θ_{1}

= 0), the resulting predictions reduce to exp (0) and w ( x ) = 1.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Functional responses in habitat selection: clarifying hypotheses and interpretations

Holbrook

Olson

DeCesare

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

113

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“…It is often found that large herbivores at low population densities increase the selection of beneficial habitat types with increasing relative habitat availability, that is, a positive functional response (Losier et al 2015, van Beest et al 2016, Mason and Fortin 2017. Fortin et al (2008) showed how energy maximizing species should specialize their habitat selection with increasing habitat availability when at low density.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use, selection, and home range properties: complex patterns of individual habitat utilization

et al. 2019

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Individual 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.

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“…Total residency time for bison and wolves in meadows was calculated by considering parts of the movement segments entering and leaving a meadow, along with the number of successive locations on the meadow, following the method described in Bastille-Rousseau et al (2011). We then followed Mason and Fortin (2017) and defined a binary residency time in meadows (covariable remain). A value of 1 indicates that a player remained in the same meadow for ≥1 h, whereas a value of 0 means the player left a given meadow within 1 h or was not initially located in a meadow at all.…”

Section: Residency Time In Meadows and Direction Of Movement With Resmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex tactics in a dynamic large herbivore–carnivore spatiotemporal game

Simon

Cherry

Fortin³

2019

Oikos

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The spatiotemporal game between predators and prey is a fundamental process governing their distribution dynamics. Players may adopt different tactics as the associated costs and benefits change through time. Yet few studies have investigated the potentially simultaneous and dynamic nature of movement tactics used by both players. It is particularly unclear to what extent perceived predation risk mediates the fine‐scale distribution of large and dangerous prey, which are mostly driven by bottom–up, resource‐related processes. We built habitat use and movement models based on 10 years of monitoring GPS‐collared grey wolves Canis lupus and plains bison Bison bison bison in Prince Albert National Park, Canada, to investigate the predator–large prey game in a multi‐prey system. Bison did not underuse patches of high‐quality vegetation at any time during the seasonal cycle even though wolves were selectively patrolling these areas. Rather, in at least one season, bison engaged in complex tactics comprised of proactive responses to the long‐term distribution (risky places) and reactive responses to the immediate proximity (risky times) of their opponent. In summer–autumn, bison reduced the time spent in food‐rich patches as both the long‐term use and the immediate proximity of wolves increased. By demonstrating that wolf distribution triggers patch abandonment by bison, we provide a key element in support of the shell game hypothesis – where prey move constantly to avoid predators attempting to anticipate their location. In winter, a season of relatively high energetic stress, bison no longer abandoned food‐rich patches as predation risk increased, while no bison responses to wolves were observed in spring–summer. Our work demonstrates the highly dynamic and complex nature of the predator–large prey spatiotemporal game, a key trait‐mediated mechanism by which trophic interactions structure ecological communities.

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Functional responses in animal movement explain spatial heterogeneity in animal–habitat relationships

Cited by 34 publications

References 59 publications

Functional responses in habitat selection: clarifying hypotheses and interpretations

Functional responses in habitat selection: clarifying hypotheses and interpretations

Use, selection, and home range properties: complex patterns of individual habitat utilization

Complex tactics in a dynamic large herbivore–carnivore spatiotemporal game

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