HOME-RANGE SIZE, RESPONSE TO FIRE, AND HABITAT PREFERENCES OF WINTERING HENSLOW'S SPARROWS

To avoid the possible extinction of the last native population of western Hermann’s tortoise in the Iberian Peninsula it is essential to make sound management decisions. Knowledge of macro and microhabitat use and home range size has considerable practical value for land managers. With this aim we first studied the home range and habitat preferences in western Hermann’s tortoises by radio tracking 15 adults weekly from March 2008 to May 2009 in three localities within the Albera population range (NE Iberian Peninsula). We estimated home ranges with Fixed Kernel estimator (FK) and Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) after checking tortoise site fidelity. We observed that home range size did not differ significantly between males and females (mean FK = 2.01 ha, mean MCP = 3.01 ha). Secondly, we studied macrohabitat selection using a vegetation map. Preferred habitats were open shrubland, open forest and barren land during the activity period, and dense forest, dense shrubland and open shrubland during the hibernation. Next, we assessed microhabitat selection along five periods of the annual cycle: hibernation, emergence from hibernation, spring, summer and autumn. We then located marked tortoises weekly and classified the plant species observed in each location. Principal component analyses showed that tortoises selected shrubs with trees during hibernation, bramble during summer and herbaceous habitat during the breeding season. All these results can provide guidelines for management programs that set aside areas of habitat critical to conserve viable populations, although it is also important to prevent mortality from forestry works. We therefore tested a new brush cutter head accessory to achieve tortoise-safe undergrowth clearing. To this aim we distributed 52 frozen hybrid tortoises among eight plots of 100 m2, cleared six of these plots with the accessory and two without it, and evaluated the scars of the blade on caparaces. We observed no damage in plots that were cleared with the accessory but scars in most carapaces in the plots cleared without it (with potential mortality ranging from 40% in neonates to 100% in adults). These results outline the importance of supporting habitat management decisions with proper field studies.

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Modeling the relationship between habitat preferences and home-range size: a case study on a large mobile colubrid snake from North America

Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00706.x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 282 (1) ◽

pp. 13-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

J. M. Kapfer ◽

C. W. Pekar ◽

D. M. Reineke ◽

J. R. Coggins ◽

R. Hay

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Home Range ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

The Relationship

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Coarse- and fine-scale patterns of distribution and habitat selection places an Amazonian floodplain curassow in double jeopardy

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.4617 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. e4617 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gabriel A. Leite ◽

Izeni P. Farias ◽

André L. S. Gonçalves ◽

Joseph E. Hawes ◽

Carlos A. Peres

Keyword(s):

Habitat Selection ◽

Home Range ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Open Water ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Conservation Strategy ◽

Fine Scale

Patterns of habitat selection are influenced by local productivity, resource availability, and predation risk. Species have taken millions of years to hone the macro- and micro-habitats they occupy, but these may now overlap with contemporary human threats within natural species ranges. Wattled Curassow (Crax globulosa), an endemic galliform species of the western Amazon, is threatened by both hunting and habitat loss, and is restricted to white-water floodplain forests of major Amazonian rivers. In this study conducted along the Juruá River, Amazonas, Brazil, we quantified the ranging ecology and fine-scale patterns of habitat selection of the species. We estimated the home range size of C. globulosa using conventional VHF telemetry. To estimate patterns of habitat selection, we used geo-locations of day ranges to examine the extent and intensity of use across the floodplain, which were then compared to a high-resolution flood map of the study area. We captured two females and one male, which we monitored for 13 months between September 2014 and September 2015. Average home range size was 283 ha, based on the 95% aLoCoH estimator. Wattled Curassows selected areas of prolonged flood pulses (six to eight months/year) and had a consistent tendency to be near open water, usually in close proximity to river banks and lakes, especially during the dry season. Amazonian floodplains are densely settled, and the small portions of floodplain habitat used by Wattled Curassows are both the most accessible to hunters and most vulnerable to deforestation. As a result, the geographic and ecological distribution of Wattled Curassows places them at much higher extinction risk at multiple spatial scales, highlighting the need to consider habitat preferences within their conservation strategy.

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Home range size, utilization and spatial organization of Pine Martens in Bial'owieza National Park, Poland

Mammal Review ◽

10.1046/j.1365-2907.2000.0075l.x ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 30 (3-4) ◽

pp. 232-232

Author(s):

A. Zalewski ◽

W. Jedrzejewski

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

National Park ◽

Spatial Organization ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Pine Martens

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Foraging Habitat, Home-Range Size and Diet of a Mediterranean Bat Species, Savi's Pipistrelle

Acta Chiropterologica ◽

10.3161/15081109acc2018.20.2.007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 351

Author(s):

Marina Kipson ◽

Martin Šálek ◽

Radek Lučan ◽

Marcel Uhrin ◽

Edita Maxinová ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Foraging Habitat

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Green morays (Gymnothorax funebris) have sedentary ways in mangrove bays, but also ontogenetic forays to reef enclaves

Environmental Biology of Fishes ◽

10.1007/s10641-021-01137-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew S. Kendall ◽

Laughlin Siceloff ◽

Ashley Ruffo ◽

Arliss Winship ◽

Mark E. Monaco

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Site Fidelity ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Caribbean Region ◽

History Of ◽

High Site ◽

Single Night ◽

Exploratory Movements ◽

Moray Eel

AbstractSurprisingly, little is known about basic life history of the largest moray eel species in the Caribbean region, the green moray eel (Gymnothorax funebris). Sixteen eels were captured from the mangrove fringe in multiple bays on St. Croix, USVI, implanted with coded acoustic transmitters, and their movements were tracked for up to 11 months using an array of 37 stationary acoustic receivers. They exhibited high site fidelity in the bays during their residence, using the same general parts of individual bays and did not switch bays except for one individual. There was no relationship between eel size (mean TL = 83 cm, range = 54–126 cm) and home range size (mean area of 95% KUD = 5.8 ha ± 0.7 SE). Most individuals were more frequently detected at night than during the day suggesting greater nocturnal activity. Several of the larger eels (mean TL = 93 cm ± 5.9 SE) showed clear and permanent emigration tracks out of the mangrove estuary to coral reef habitats offshore. For some individuals, these habitat shifts were preceded by exploratory movements away from the eel’s typical home range the night before emigration. All final emigration events took place nocturnally, happened during a single night, and occurred during months from December to May. Mean emigration speed was 3.4 km/h. This study is the first documentation of an ontogenetic habitat shift in moray eels, as well as the first determination of home range size for this species and their site fidelity in mangrove habitats.

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