scholarly journals Differential responses of coyotes to novel stimuli in familiar and unfamiliar settings

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (11) ◽  
pp. 2005-2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles E Harris ◽  
Frederick F Knowlton

We studied behavioral responses of captive and wild coyotes (Canis latrans) toward novel objects and artificial scent stations to determine how they might respond to novel stimuli used in coyote management and research. When captive coyotes encountered novel stimuli in unfamiliar surroundings they showed little avoidance, while the same stimuli caused avoidance and neophobic reactions among coyotes when encountered in familiar surroundings. In the field phase of the study, radio-collared coyotes in southern Texas were intensively monitored in order to relate space-use patterns to the locations where these coyotes were exposed to artificial scent stations. Coyotes were more likely to respond to and score (record visits by leaving tracks) at artificial scent stations when these were encountered outside or on the periphery of their home areas than when they were encountered within their home area. This suggests that indices of coyote abundance that employ responses to novel situations may more readily record coyotes that are outside the central portions of their home areas and that transient or dispersing coyotes are more likely to be "counted" than residents.

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1550) ◽  
pp. 2221-2231 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Kie ◽  
Jason Matthiopoulos ◽  
John Fieberg ◽  
Roger A. Powell ◽  
Francesca Cagnacci ◽  
...  

Recent advances in animal tracking and telemetry technology have allowed the collection of location data at an ever-increasing rate and accuracy, and these advances have been accompanied by the development of new methods of data analysis for portraying space use, home ranges and utilization distributions. New statistical approaches include data-intensive techniques such as kriging and nonlinear generalized regression models for habitat use. In addition, mechanistic home-range models, derived from models of animal movement behaviour, promise to offer new insights into how home ranges emerge as the result of specific patterns of movements by individuals in response to their environment. Traditional methods such as kernel density estimators are likely to remain popular because of their ease of use. Large datasets make it possible to apply these methods over relatively short periods of time such as weeks or months, and these estimates may be analysed using mixed effects models, offering another approach to studying temporal variation in space-use patterns. Although new technologies open new avenues in ecological research, our knowledge of why animals use space in the ways we observe will only advance by researchers using these new technologies and asking new and innovative questions about the empirical patterns they observe.


2021 ◽  
pp. 105489
Author(s):  
Mitchell J. Rider ◽  
Oliver S. Kirsebom ◽  
Austin J. Gallagher ◽  
Erica Staaterman ◽  
Jerald S. Ault ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 476-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delphine Danancher ◽  
Jacques Labonne ◽  
Roger Pradel ◽  
Philippe Gaudin

In this study, capture–mark–recapture statistics were applied to spatial recapture histories to assess the intensity of fish restricted movements along the longitudinal axis of a river using a previously described model for survival and recruitment analysis. Adapting the stopover estimation method to spatial data, movement probabilities were then used to estimate space used at the population scale. This capture–recapture estimates of space used in streams (CRESUS) method may thus be seen as a complementary tool of classic home range methods and should be used to explore the consequence of behavioural strategies on population mechanisms. We propose a methodological example where movements and space use strategies of a Zingel asper (percid) population in the Beaume River (Ardèche, France) were directly estimated at the population scale taking account of the effects of different biotic or abiotic factors. Results showed differences in Z. asper space use patterns among sexes, periods of biological cycle (growing and spawning period), and types of mesohabitat. Downstream movements were more important during the spawning period and by the way the riffle was more intensively used.


Author(s):  
Matt McGee ◽  
Stan Anderson ◽  
Doug Wachob

A study of coyote (Canis latrans) habitat use and mortality in Grand Teton National Park and the suburban-agricultural land surrounding Jackson, WY was conducted between September 1999 and August 2000. This research focused on the influence of human development, habitat type, topography, and simulated wolf presence on coyote habitat use and on coyote mortality patterns in undeveloped and suburban-agricultural land. The overall goal of this project was to provide baseline information on the coyote population in Jackson Hole that can be used in the future to determine what, if any, impact wolves and human developments may have on coyotes. There were a total of fifteen radio-collared coyotes in the suburban-agricultural area and fourteen radio collared coyotes in Grand Teton National Park and adjacent areas in the National Elk Refuge and Bridger-Teton National Forest. Marked coyotes were tracked weekly using short interval telemetry relocations and triangulation to determine habitat use patterns. During the winter, track transects were skied weekly and coyote trails were backtracked and mapped using hand held GPS units to determine fine scale habitat use patterns. Coyote mortality was determined via telemetry and direct observation. Preliminary data analyses suggest that coyotes use mainly sagebrush-grasslands or forest-shrub-grass edge areas and avoid forest interior areas. Coyotes frequently use trails and roads in the undeveloped area when moving long distances. Preliminary analysis also indicates that roads and trails are used in a greater proportion than their abundance on the landscape. Coyotes were frequently observed using riparian corridors to move between open meadows in the suburban-agricultural area. There is some evidence that suggests coyotes selectively travel fences and irrigation ditches for long distances in agricultural areas. The movement data also suggests that coyotes avoid developed areas during the day and travel in these developed areas at night. The data on coyote locations suggests some avoidance of wolf urine scent grids in the undeveloped area, but not in the developed area. Coyote mortality was primarily human caused, and coyotes that were male, transient, and lived in the suburban-agricultural area were the most commonly killed animals.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Madihah Mat Idris ◽  
Magda Sibley ◽  
Karim Hadjri

This paper examines the behaviour of users of a large central courtyard in a hospital with the aim to develop an understanding of the activities and the space use patterns of patients, staff and visitors. Video-based and direct observation, as well as behaviour mapping, were employed to investigate how different types of users interact with the courtyard garden. This study reveals that significant differences existed in the way different user groups utilised the courtyard garden on a daily basis and this was found to be highly influenced by the physical environment, the hospital opening hours and the courtyard micro-climate.eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v3i8.1413


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumen Dey ◽  
Richard Bischof ◽  
Pierre P. A. Dupont ◽  
Cyril Milleret

AbstractSpatial capture-recapture (SCR) is now used widely to estimate wildlife densities. At the core of SCR models lies the detection function, linking individual detection probability to the distance from its latent activity center. The most common function (half-normal) assumes a bivariate normal space use and consequently detection pattern. This is likely an oversimplification and misrepresentation of real-life animal space use patterns, but studies have reported that density estimates are relatively robust to misspecified detection functions. However, information about consequences of such misspecification on space use parameters (e.g. home range area), as well as diagnostic tools to reveal it are lacking.We simulated SCR data under six different detection functions, including the half-normal, to represent a wide range of space use patterns. We then fit three different SCR models, with the three simplest detection functions (half-normal, exponential and half-normal plateau) to each simulated data set. We evaluated the consequences of misspecification in terms of bias, precision and coverage probability of density and home range area estimates. We also calculated Bayesian p-values with respect to different discrepancy metrics to assess whether these can help identify misspecifications of the detection function.We corroborate previous findings that density estimates are robust to misspecifications of the detection function. However, estimates of home range area are prone to bias when the detection function is misspecified. When fitted with the half-normal model, average relative bias of 95% kernel home range area estimates ranged between −25% and 26% depending on the misspecification. In contrast, the half-normal plateau model (an extension of the half-normal) returned average relative bias that ranged between −26% and −4%. Additionally, we found useful heuristic patterns in Bayesian p-values to diagnose the misspecification in detection function.Our analytical framework and diagnostic tools may help users select a detection function when analyzing empirical data, especially when space use parameters (such as home range area) are of interest. We urge development of additional custom goodness of fit diagnostics for Bayesian SCR models to help practitioners identify a wider range of model misspecifications.


2020 ◽  
Vol 89 (12) ◽  
pp. 2763-2776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Ellison ◽  
Ben J. Hatchwell ◽  
Sarah J. Biddiscombe ◽  
Clare J. Napper ◽  
Jonathan R. Potts

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