Habitat Use, Movements and Activity Patterns of Free-Ranging Diamond Pythons, Morelia-Spilota-Spilota (Serpentes, Boidae) - a Radiotelemetric Study

1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 515 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Slip ◽  
R Shine
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Distributed Data ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Radio Transmitters ◽  
Small Sample Sizes ◽  
Rocky Habitats

Miniature radio transmitters were surgically implanted in 15 adult diamond pythons from two areas near Sydney, N.S.W., in south-eastern Australia, and the snakes monitored for intervals of 4-32 months. We document patterns of habitat use and movements, and interpret these in terms of the feeding habits and reproductive biology of the pythons. These snakes were usually sedentary in summer and autumn, with occasional long movements to new sites. During spring (the mating season), males moved long distances, often daily. Telemetered pythons were generally diurnal and terrestrial rather than arboreal. Snakes were most commonly recorded coiled under vegetation which provided filtering cover (34% of locations). The relative use of different habitats by diamond pythons changed with season. In summer and autumn, snakes were most frequently in disturbed habitats (such as areas around houses), where prey are relatively common. In winter the snakes used rocky habitats, especially sandstone crevices. No winter aggregations were observed. The radio-tracked snakes had large (up to 124 ha), well-defined but overlapping home ranges, and these varied significantly between sexes and among seasons. Detailed analysis of python movements shows that at least two assumptions of many home-range analyses (normally distributed data and adequacy of small sample sizes) are invalid for our study.

Snowmobile Effects on Movements of White-tailed Deer: A Case-study

1979 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald G. Eckstein ◽  
Thomas F. O'Brien ◽  
Orrin J. Rongstad ◽  
John G. Bollinger
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Odocoileus Virginianus ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Home Ranges

The effects of snowmobile traffic on the winter home-ranges, movements, and activity patterns, of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), were studied during two winters in northern Wisconsin. There were no significant differences in home-range size and habitat use of the Deer in areas with and without snowmobiling. However, snowmobiling caused some Deer to leave the immediate vicinity of the snowmobile trail. Deer were most affected when they were within 61 m of the snowmobile trail.

Home Range and Activity Patterns of Red Foxes in Nadgee Nature Reserve.

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 677 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Phillips ◽  
PC Catling
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Vulpes Vulpes ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Red Foxes ◽  
Wilderness Area ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Sclerophyll Forest ◽  
Male Activity

Three adult red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in a 20-km2 wilderness area of coastal south-eastern Australia were studied during pre-denning and denning. Home ranges were defined by geographic featues, but not by roads. The foxes occupied exclusive home ranges, and observations suggest that they were territorial and existed alone or, at most, in mated pairs. Home-range sizes were small (1.2-5.2 km2) compared with those in North America and Europe, but similar to those in England and Wales. During denning the female's activity became almost entirely diurnal. When not active, the vixen was with the cubs. Male activity during denning was nocturnal, but, as found for the female, inactive periods were spent near the suspected den-site in his home range. Habitats that were frequented most by all foxes were those with the highest abundance of either small or medium-sized mammals. Dry sclerophyll forest was used consistently by all foxes but heathland and the beaches were rarely frequented. Small and medium-sized mammals, which were abundant in all habitats except the beach and heathland, made up 52.6% of items in the scats.

Movements, Activity Patterns and Habitat Use of Feral Pigs (Sus scrofa) in a Tropical Habitat

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Caley
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Riparian Vegetation ◽  
Radio Telemetry ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Feral Pigs ◽  
Live Trapping ◽  
The Mean

Movements, activity patterns and habitat use of feral pigs were studied in a tropical woodland habitat by radio-telemetry, live-trapping and hunter returns. The mean aggregate home-range size was 33.5 km2 for boars and 24.1 km2 for sows. Feral pigs were rather sedentary, with no tendency to disperse great distances from their initial home ranges. Pigs were most active at night, with peaks of activity in the late afternoon and early morning. Pigs preferentially used the riparian vegetation strip bordering major rivers, and grain crops, when available. The implications for the management of pigs are discussed.

Bobcat–coyote niche relationships during a period of coyote population increase

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 1180-1188 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Litvaitis ◽  
D. J. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Exploitation Competition ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Diet Diversity ◽  
Seasonal Indices ◽  
Range Overlap ◽  
Autumn And Winter

Resource partitioning between bobcats (Felis rufus) and coyotes (Canis latrans) was investigated in eastern Maine during 1979–1984, when colonizing populations of coyotes were rapidly expanding. A total of 2615 radio locations of 10 resident bobcats and 6 resident coyotes were used to investigate activity patterns, spatial relationships, and habitat use. The daily distribution of activity by both species was similar during all seasons, and neighboring bobcat–coyote home ranges overlapped. Simultaneous locations of eight sympatric bobcat–coyote pairs (≥ 10% home range overlap) indicated an apparent lack of attraction or avoidance between neighboring heterospecifics. Bobcats preferred hardwood stands during all seasons (P < 0.05), and occupied softwood-dominated stands less than expected (P < 0.05) during autumn and winter. Coyote habitat use was less consistent, and indices of habitat-use overlap with bobcats varied from 0.60 during autumn to 1.00 during winter. Seasonal indices of diet diversity, based on the examination of 1495 feces, indicated that bobcats were more specialized than coyotes. Coyotes became omnivorous during summer and autumn, while bobcats remained strict carnivores during all seasons. Indices of diet overlap were higher during winter (0.76) and spring (0.72) than during summer (0.49) and autumn (0.49). The numbers of bobcats and coyotes trapped in eastern Maine during 1977–1986 were negatively correlated (r = −0.75, P < 0.02), suggesting a population response to exploitation competition between these two carnivores.

scholarly journals Activity and Ranging Behavior of Leopard Cats (Prionailurus bengalensis) in an Oil Palm Landscape

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Silmi ◽  
Kharisma Putra ◽  
Ali Amran ◽  
Mahfud Huda ◽  
Aldino Fauzil Fanani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Oil Palm ◽  
Mangrove Forest ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Ranging Behavior ◽  
Forest Habitat ◽  
Central Kalimantan ◽  
Radio Transmitters ◽  
Prionailurus Bengalensis

The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is the most widespread feline in Asia. It has been recorded in a range of habitats, including monoculture landscapes, such as oil palm plantations. Here, we report on a study on the presence, home range, activity patterns and diet of the species in an oil palm landscape to assess their viability as biological pest controller of rats. The study took place in United Plantations/PT SSS estate in Central Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia. From July 2014 to March 2018, we captured 11 leopard cats in purpose-built cage-traps and fitted them with VHF radio-transmitters. They were tracked for a 44 months study period, during which we collected a total of 2.031 GPS locations used for estimating the respective cats’ activities and home-ranges. The cats are strictly nocturnal and prefer to hide and rest in thick bush, primarily consisting of sword-fern (Nephrolepis sp.) during day-time, but forage both on the ground and in the palm canopy at night. The average home range (95% FK) for male leopard cats is 1.47 km2 (n = 7; SD = 0.62 km2) with slightly smaller home range for females at 1.29 km2 (n = 4; SD = 0.28 km2). All individuals studied were recorded strictly within the oil palm plantation landscape, although mangrove forest habitat makes up 7% of the greater plantation landscape. In conclusion, leopard cats survive and reproduce well in oil palm habitats and are effective biological controllers of rats that can replace the traditionally used expensive and environmentally polluting chemical rat poisons.

Home range of male lace monitors, Varanus varius (Reptilia : Varanidae), in south-eastern Australia

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 303 ◽  
Author(s):  
BW Weavers
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Sample Size ◽  
Convex Polygon ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Realistic Description ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Travelling paths and overnight roosts of the lace monitor, Varanus varius, were recorded by radiotracking during periods of up to 19 months in lowland open forest of south-eastern Australia. Home ranges were calculated by four methods: convex polygon (without correction for small sample size), convex polygon (with correction for small sample size), and two 95% probability ellipses. From field observations, I conclude that the convex polygon method without correction for sample size provides the most realistic description of the space used by V. varius. By this method, I calculated a mean (+/- s.d.) home range of 65 +/- 34 ha for 13 male V. varius (mean mass 5.1kg) that were radio-tracked for 2-19 months.

scholarly journals Characterizing the Urban Mine—Simulation-Based Optimization of Sampling Approaches for Built-in Batteries in WEEE

Recycling ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Paul Martin Mählitz ◽  
Nathalie Korf ◽  
Kristine Sperlich ◽  
Olivier Münch ◽  
Matthias Rösslein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Sample ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Distributed Data ◽  
Sample Sizes ◽  
Representative Sampling ◽  
Comprehensive Knowledge ◽  
Simulation Based ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Small Sample Sizes ◽  
Almost All

Comprehensive knowledge of built-in batteries in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is required for sound and save WEEE management. However, representative sampling is challenging due to the constantly changing composition of WEEE flows and battery systems. Necessary knowledge, such as methodologically uniform procedures and recommendations for the determination of minimum sample sizes (MSS) for representative results, is missing. The direct consequences are increased sampling efforts, lack of quality-assured data, gaps in the monitoring of battery losses in complementary flows, and impeded quality control of depollution during WEEE treatment. In this study, we provide detailed data sets on built-in batteries in WEEE and propose a non-parametric approach (NPA) to determine MSS. For the pilot dataset, more than 23 Mg WEEE (6500 devices) were sampled, examined for built-in batteries, and classified according to product-specific keys (UNUkeys and BATTkeys). The results show that 21% of the devices had battery compartments, distributed over almost all UNUkeys considered and that only about every third battery was removed prior to treatment. Moreover, the characterization of battery masses (BM) and battery mass shares (BMS) using descriptive statistical analysis showed that neither product- nor battery-specific characteristics are given and that the assumption of (log-)normally distributed data is not generally applicable. Consequently, parametric approaches (PA) to determine the MSS for representative sampling are prone to be biased. The presented NPA for MSS using data-driven simulation (bootstrapping) shows its applicability despite small sample sizes and inconclusive data distribution. If consistently applied, the method presented can be used to optimize future sampling and thus reduce sampling costs and efforts while increasing data quality.

scholarly journals Replacement of Biased Estimators with Unbiased Ones in the Case of Student’s t-Distribution and Geary’s Kurtosis

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-27
Author(s):  
Gergely Tóth ◽  
Pál Szepesváry
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Unbiased Estimation ◽  
Distributed Data ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Population Standard Deviation ◽  
Quantitative Results ◽  
Biased Estimators ◽  
Small Sample Sizes ◽  
T Distribution

Abstract The use of biased estimators can be found in some historically and up to now important tools in statistical data analysis. In this paper their replacement with unbiased estimators at least in the case of the estimator of the population standard deviation for normal distributions is proposed. By removing the incoherence from the Student’s t-distribution caused by the biased estimator, a corrected t-distribution may be defined. Although the quantitative results in most data analysis applications are identical for both the original and corrected tdistributions, the use of this last t-distribution is suggested because of its theoretical consistency. Moreover, the frequent qualitative discussion of the t-distribution has come under much criticism, because it concerns artefacts of the biased estimator. In the case of Geary’s kurtosis the same correction results (2/π)1/2 unbiased estimation of kurtosis for normally distributed data that is independent of the size of the sample. It is believed that by removing the sample-size-dependent biased feature, the applicability domain can be expanded to include small sample sizes for some normality tests.

scholarly journals Ecology of an ocelot population at the northern edge of the species’ distribution in northern Sonora, Mexico

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8414
Author(s):  
James C. Rorabaugh ◽  
Jan Schipper ◽  
Sergio Avila-Villegas ◽  
Jessica A. Lamberton-Moreno ◽  
Timothy Flood
Keyword(s):  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression ◽  
Breeding Population ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Leopardus Pardalis ◽  
Conservation Property ◽  
Northern Edge ◽  
Northwestern Mexico ◽  
Small Sample Sizes ◽  
Paved Road

We used data from eight years of camera trapping at Rancho El Aribabi, a cattle ranch and conservation property in northern Sonora, Mexico, to examine the ecology of the northern-most known breeding population of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis). Ocelots were found mostly in two discrete and disjunct areas: a riverine riparian canyon at just less than 1,000 masl elevation and along arroyos in an oak-mesquite savanna in the Sierra Azul at 1,266–1,406 masl. An ocelot was also detected at a site between those two areas, in an area of a Sonoran desertscrub-foothills thornscrub ecotone at 1,300 masl. At least 18 ocelots, both males and females, were detected during the 2007–2011 and 2014–2018 sampling periods. A female with a kitten was documented in 2011. No individual ocelots were photographed in both areas, which are separated by a minimum of 11.29 km, and no individuals were photographed in both time periods. In a binary logistic regression, key environmental variables predicting ocelot presence were, in order of importance, distance to a paved road, distance to human habitation, proximity to water, and an anthropogenic influences index that was dominated by cattle. Another analysis corroborated the finding regarding ocelot presence and cattle. Contrary to previous studies, ocelot presence was not tied to vegetation cover close to the ground. We present information about the types of habitats and sites ocelots used, short-term movements, daily and seasonal activity patterns, and behavior, including occurrence of different individuals at or near the same site over short periods of time. We discuss ocelot home range, density, and movements, but small sample sizes and study design problems limit the value of estimates derived from our work. Rancho El Aribabi is a private, conservation ranch for which the owners have made voluntary conservation commitments that provide habitat and protection for ocelots and other animals and plants. This northern-most known breeding population is a likely source of ocelots that are periodically detected in southeastern Arizona. Our results should help facilitate conservation of the ocelot in other semi-arid areas of northwestern Mexico and adjacent USA.

The Effect on Wild Dogs, Canis-F-Familiaris, of 1080-Poisoning Campaigns in Kosciusko-National-Park, Nsw

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 535 ◽  
Author(s):  
JC Mcilroy ◽  
RJ Cooper ◽  
EJ Gifford ◽  
BF Green ◽  
KW Newgrain
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Rapid Loss ◽  
Grazing Land ◽  
Control Zone ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Radio Transmitters ◽  
Wild Dogs ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Nine wild dogs, Canis f. familiaris, radio-tracked over periods of 28-61 days in Kosciusko National Park, N.S.W., occupied home ranges of 220-5420 ha (mean 2193 ha). These home ranges were similar in size to those observed for dingoes, C. f. dingo, in other areas of south-eastern Australia. The maximum distance that any of the nine dogs moved between successive daily locations was 11.2 km. On the basis of this information and that obtained by others, we suggest that the control of wild dogs on Crown Land in south-eastern Australia should be confined to those areas adjacent to private grazing land. Furthermore, a control zone 12-20 km wide should be adequate. Two successive trail-baiting campaigns with 1080 poison in March and April 1982 killed only two (22%) of the nine wild dogs carrying radio transmitters. Traps, in comparison, caught 15 out of 27 (56%) of the dogs known to be in the area. The main factors which reduced the success of the poisoning campaign were the rapid loss of toxicity of the baits after their distribution, the rapid rate at which they were removed by other animals, particularly foxes Vulpes vulpes and birds, and the dogs' apparent preference for natural prey.

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