Animal Space Use

Through the history of ecological methods, local intensity of habitat use has been equalized with local density of relocations. Using relative density as a proxy variable for intensity of habitat use rests on a critical assumption which few seems to be aware of or pay attention to. In this second post on Multi-scaled random walk (MRW) applications for ecological inference I describe a simple method, which rests on an alternative assumption with respect to space use intensity, applicable under quite broad behavioural and ecological conditions. One immediate proposal for application is analysis of habitat selection. First, consider counting number of GPS fixes, N, within respective area segments of a given habitat type h, A h1 , A h2 , …, A hi , …A hk , and calculating the average N pr. area unit of type h. Next, consider comparing this density D h with another density within a second habitat type j; i.e., D j , using the same area scale for comparison. If Dh>Dj one traditionally ...

In this “MRW and Ecology” series of posts I present summaries of simple ecological methods – based on alternative basic assumptions – for analysis of common ecological aspects of animal space use. These proposals are spin-offs of the first direction of research to explicitly break out of the Markovian strait-jacket in the present context. A broadened analytical approach – involving a qualitative shift of direction – is in my view clearly needed, as documented by the rapidly growing line of high quality and deep-level analyses of empirical data now appearing. For such an alternative direction the parsimonious Multi-scaled random walk model (MRW) may provide a feasible starting point. Over the years the MRW approach has been successfully tested empirically against the prevailing paradigm’s basic assumptions, or indirectly supported by alternative interpretations of respective analyses of space use and movement. Thus, now it’s time to step forward from testing behavioural feasibility of ...

Random walk is one of the most sticky concepts of movement ecology. Unfortunately, this versatile theoretical model approach to simplify complex space use under a small set of movement rules often leads to confusion and unnecessary controversy. As pointed out by any field ecologist, unless an individual is passively shuffled around in a stochastic sequence of multi-directional pull and push events, the behavioural response to local events and conditions is deterministic! An animal behaves rationally. It successively interprets and responds to environmental conditions – within limits given by its perceptive and cognitive capacity – rather than ignoring these cues like a drunken walker. Any alternative strategy would lose in the game of natural selection. Still, from a theoretical perspective an animal path may still be realistically represented by random walk – given that the randomness is based on properly specified biophysical premises and the animal adhere to these premises. Outs...