Group size and composition influence collective movement in a highly social terrestrial bird

A challenge of group-living is to maintain cohesion while navigating through heterogeneous landscapes. Larger groups benefit from information pooling, translating to greater ‘collective intelligence’, but face increased coordination challenges. If these facets interact, we should observe a non-linear relationship between group size and collective movement. We deployed high-resolution GPS tags to vulturine guineafowl from 21 distinct social groups and used continuous-time movement models to characterize group movements across five seasons. Our data revealed a quadratic relationship between group size and movement characteristics, with intermediate-sized groups exhibiting the largest home-range size and greater variation in space use. Intermediate-sized groups also had higher reproductive success, but having more young in the group reduced home-range size. Our study suggests the presence of an optimal group size, and composition, for collective movement.

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Home ranges, habitat and body mass: simple correlates of home range size in ungulates

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2016.1234 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 283 (1845) ◽

pp. 20161234 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Endre Grüner Ofstad ◽

Ivar Herfindal ◽

Erling Johan Solberg ◽

Bernt-Erik Sæther

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Spatial Scale ◽

Body Mass ◽

Group Size ◽

Animal Movement ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Habitat Type ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Home Ranges

The spatial scale of animal space use, e.g. measured as individual home range size, is a key trait with important implications for ecological and evolutionary processes as well as management and conservation of populations and ecosystems. Explaining variation in home range size has therefore received great attention in ecological research. However, few studies have examined multiple hypotheses simultaneously, which is important provided the complex interactions between life history, social system and behaviour. Here, we review previous studies on home range size in ungulates, supplementing with a meta-analysis, to assess how differences in habitat use and species characteristics affect the relationship between body mass and home range size. Habitat type was the main factor explaining interspecific differences in home range size after accounting for species body mass and group size. Species using open habitats had larger home ranges for a given body mass than species using closed habitats, whereas species in open habitats showed a much weaker allometric relationship compared with species living in closed habitats. We found no support for relationships between home range size and species diet or mating system, or any sexual differences. These patterns suggest that the spatial scale of animal movement mainly is a combined effect of body mass, group size and the landscape structure. Accordingly, landscape management must acknowledge the influence of spatial distribution of habitat types on animal behaviour to ensure natural processes affecting demography and viability of ungulate populations.

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Use of Space by Black-and-Gold Howler Monkeys (Alouatta caraya) in an Urban Environment in Paraguay.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-238106/v1 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Xander Duffy ◽

Jake Wellian ◽

Rebecca L. Smith

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Urban Environment ◽

Group Size ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Howler Monkey ◽

Home Ranges ◽

Alouatta Caraya ◽

Minimum Convex Polygon ◽

Core Areas

Abstract As urbanisation continues to reduce the available habitat for wildlife some species, such as the black-and-gold howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) in Pilar, southwest Paraguay, are making their homes in anthropogenic environments. Understanding an animal's home range is an important first step to understanding its ecological needs, an essential requirement for robust conservation plans. In this study we determined the home ranges and core areas of five groups of urban dwelling A. caraya using Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) and Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) Analysis. We used a Spearman’s Correlation to explore the relationship between home range size and group size. All five groups had home ranges of less than 10 ha and used core areas of less than 1ha. Group size had no significant relationship to home range size. We provide the first estimates of home range for A. caraya in an urban environment in Paraguay. Though the home ranges of the urban A. caraya in Pilar, Paraguay fall at the smaller end of the spectrum of range sizes in Alouatta they are not abnormal for a species in this genus.

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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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