How flexible are habitat specialists? Short-term space use in obligate coral-dwelling damselfishes

Beta diversity describes the differences in species composition among communities. Changes in beta diversity over time are thought to be due to selection based on species' niche characteristics. For example, theory predicts that selection that favours habitat specialists will increase beta diversity. In practice, ecologists struggle to predict how beta diversity changes. To remedy this problem, we propose a novel solution that formally measures selection's effects on beta diversity. Using the Price equation, we show how change in beta diversity over time can be partitioned into fundamental mechanisms including selection among species, variable selection among communities, drift, and immigration. A key finding of our approach is that a species' short-term impact on beta diversity cannot be predicted using information on its long-term environmental requirements (i.e. its niche). We illustrate how our approach can be used to partition causes of diversity change in a montane tropical forest before and after an intense hurricane. Previous work in this system highlighted the resistance of habitat specialists and the recruitment of light-demanding species but was unable to quantify the importance of these effects on beta diversity. Using our approach, we show that changes in beta diversity were consistent with ecological drift. We use these results to highlight the opportunities presented by a synthesis of beta diversity and formal models of selection.

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Energetics and fear of humans constrain the spatial ecology of pumas

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2004592118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 118 (5) ◽

pp. e2004592118

Author(s):

Barry A. Nickel ◽

Justin P. Suraci ◽

Anna C. Nisi ◽

Christopher C. Wilmers

Keyword(s):

Predation Risk ◽

Spatial Ecology ◽

Puma Concolor ◽

Space Use ◽

High Energy ◽

Primary Role ◽

Accelerometer Data ◽

Short Term ◽

Energetic Costs

Energetic demands and fear of predators are considered primary factors shaping animal behavior, and both are likely drivers of movement decisions that ultimately determine the spatial ecology of wildlife. Yet energetic constraints on movement imposed by the physical landscape have only been considered separately from those imposed by risk avoidance, limiting our understanding of how short-term movement decisions scale up to affect long-term space use. Here, we integrate the costs of both physical terrain and predation risk into a common currency, energy, and then quantify their effects on the short-term movement and long-term spatial ecology of a large carnivore living in a human-dominated landscape. Using high-resolution GPS and accelerometer data from collared pumas (Puma concolor), we calculated the short-term (i.e., 5-min) energetic costs of navigating both rugged physical terrain and a landscape of risk from humans (major sources of both mortality and fear for our study population). Both the physical and risk landscapes affected puma short-term movement costs, with risk having a relatively greater impact by inducing high-energy but low-efficiency movement behavior. The cumulative effects of short-term movement costs led to reductions of 29% to 68% in daily travel distances and total home range area. For male pumas, long-term patterns of space use were predominantly driven by the energetic costs of human-induced risk. This work demonstrates that, along with physical terrain, predation risk plays a primary role in shaping an animal’s “energy landscape” and suggests that fear of humans may be a major factor affecting wildlife movements worldwide.

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Annual vs. Multiple-Year Home Range Sizes of Individual Blanding's Turtles, Emydoidea blandingii, in Central Wisconsin

The Canadian Field-Naturalist ◽

10.22621/cfn.v122i1.545 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 122 (1) ◽

pp. 61 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Matthew Schuler ◽

Richard P. Thiel

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Space Use ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Home Ranges ◽

Convex Polygons ◽

Short Term ◽

Emydoidea Blandingii ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Short Time

Most studies of home ranges occur over short time periods and may not represent the spacial requirements of long-lived organisms such as turtles. Home ranges of 18 individual Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) were measured using minimum convex polygons. Annual space use was compared to multi-year space use by individual turtles. We found a significant difference between annual home range size (25.5 hectares) and multi-year (two to six years) home range size (65.7 hectares; n = 18, P = 0.016). Caution should be employed when making management decisions based on short-term studies of long lived species.

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Translocated native pine martens Martes martes alter short‐term space use by invasive non‐native grey squirrels Sciurus carolinensis

Journal of Applied Ecology ◽

10.1111/1365-2664.13598 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 57 (5) ◽

pp. 903-913 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Catherine M. McNicol ◽

David Bavin ◽

Stuart Bearhop ◽

Mark Ferryman ◽

Robin Gill ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Space Use ◽

Sciurus Carolinensis ◽

Martes Martes ◽

Short Term ◽

Pine Martens ◽

Grey Squirrels

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Short-Term Space-Use Patterns of Translocated Mojave Desert Tortoise in Southern California

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0134250 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. e0134250 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Matthew L. Farnsworth ◽

Brett G. Dickson ◽

Luke J. Zachmann ◽

Ericka E. Hegeman ◽

Amanda R. Cangelosi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mojave Desert ◽

Southern California ◽

Space Use ◽

Desert Tortoise ◽

Short Term ◽

Use Patterns ◽

Mojave Desert Tortoise

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Effects of Bait on Male White-Tailed Deer Resource Selection

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11082334 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 2334

Author(s):

James T. Johnson ◽

Richard B. Chandler ◽

L. Mike Conner ◽

Michael J. Cherry ◽

Charlie H. Killmaster ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Disease Transmission ◽

Resource Selection ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Space Use ◽

Second Order ◽

Camera Traps ◽

Home Ranges ◽

Order Selection ◽

Short Term ◽

Third Order

Bait is often used to increase wildlife harvest susceptibility, enhance viewing opportunities, and survey wildlife populations. The effects of baiting depend on how bait influences space use and resource selection at multiple spatial scales. Although telemetry studies allow for inferences about resource selection within home ranges (third-order selection), they provide limited information about spatial variation in density, which is the result of second-order selection. Recent advances in spatial capture-recapture (SCR) techniques allow exploration of second- and third-order selection simultaneously using non-invasive methods such as camera traps. Our objectives were to describe how short-term baiting affects white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) behavior and distribution. We fit SCR models to camera data from baited and unbaited locations in southwestern Georgia to assess the effects of short-term baiting on second- and third-order selection of deer during summer and winter surveys. We found little evidence of second-order selection during late summer or early winter surveys when camera surveys using bait are typically conducted. However, we found evidence for third-order selection, indicating that resource selection within home ranges is affected. Concentrations in space use resulting from baiting may enhance disease transmission, change harvest susceptibility, and potentially bias the outcome of camera surveys using bait.

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Vulnerability of sea turtles and fishes in response to two catastrophic Caribbean hurricanes, Irma and Maria

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-50523-3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J. K. Matley ◽

S. Eanes ◽

R. S. Nemeth ◽

P. D. Jobsis

Keyword(s):

Prey Availability ◽

Sea Turtles ◽

Space Use ◽

Sea Turtle ◽

Virgin Islands ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Short Term ◽

Eretmochelys Imbricata ◽

Us Virgin Islands

Abstract Extreme weather events (e.g., cyclones, floods, droughts) are capable of changing ecosystems and altering how animals obtain resources. Understanding the behavioural responses of animals being impacted by these natural events can help initiate and ameliorate conservation or management programs. This study investigated short- and long-term space-use of the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), as well as five species of fishes and stingrays, in response to two of the most destructive Caribbean hurricanes in known history – Irma and Maria, which were at their peak intensity when they passed the US Virgin Islands in September of 2017. Using passive acoustic telemetry in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, we show a variety of short-term behavioural patterns initiated across species to reduce exposure to the strong environmental conditions, such as moving to deeper habitats within the study area. Although short-term expansion of activity space was evident for several sea turtles, long-term impacts on space-use and body condition were limited. In contrast, southern stingrays (Hypanus americanus) left the study area shortly after the hurricanes, suggesting vulnerability stemming from altered habitat, prey availability, or temperature/oxygen profiles. This study shows the strong spatial resilience of several nearshore species despite exposure to two consecutive category 5 hurricanes.

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Herbivore space use influences coral reef recovery

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.160262 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (6) ◽

pp. 160262 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Yoan Eynaud ◽

Dylan E. McNamara ◽

Stuart A. Sandin

Keyword(s):

Space Use ◽

Spatially Explicit ◽

Short Term ◽

Spatially Explicit Model ◽

Foraging Patterns ◽

Marine Communities ◽

Herbivore Community ◽

Reef Recovery ◽

Herbivore Species ◽

Favourable Environment

Herbivores play an important role in marine communities. On coral reefs, the diversity and unique feeding behaviours found within this functional group can have a comparably diverse set of impacts in structuring the benthic community. Here, using a spatially explicit model of herbivore foraging, we explore how the spatial pattern of grazing behaviours impacts the recovery of a reef ecosystem, considering movements at two temporal scales—short term (e.g. daily foraging patterns) and longer term (e.g. monthly movements across the landscape). Model simulations suggest that more spatially constrained herbivores are more effective at conferring recovery capability by providing a favourable environment to coral recruitment and growth. Results also show that the composition of food available to the herbivore community is linked directly to the pattern of space use by herbivores. To date, most studies of variability among the impacts of herbivore species have considered the diversity of feeding modes and mouthparts. Our work provides a complementary view of spatial patterns of foraging, revealing that variation in movement behaviours alone can affect patterns of benthic change, and thus broadens our view of realized links between herbivore diversity and reef recovery.

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