Articles

The ‘migratory connectivity’ concept, and its applicability to insect migrants

Migratory connectivity describes the degree of linkage between different parts of an animal’s migratory range due to the movement trajectories of individuals. High connectivity occurs when individuals from one...

Authors: Boya Gao, Johanna Hedlund, Don R. Reynolds, Baoping Zhai, Gao Hu and Jason W. Chapman

Effects of habitat modifications on the movement behavior of animals: the case study of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and tropical tunas

Aggregation sites represent important sources of environmental heterogeneity and can modify the movement behavior of animals. When these sites are artificially established through anthropogenic actions, the co...

Authors: Géraldine Pérez, Laurent Dagorn, Jean-Louis Deneubourg, Fabien Forget, John D. Filmalter, Kim Holland, David Itano, Shiham Adam, Riyaz Jauharee, Sunil P. Beeharry and Manuela Capello

Patterns of foraging activity and fidelity in a southeast Asian flying fox

Improved understanding of the foraging ecology of bats in the face of ongoing habitat loss and modification worldwide is essential to their conservation and maintaining the substantial ecosystem services they ...

Authors: Elodie Schloesing, Rémi Chambon, Annelise Tran, Kinley Choden, Sébastien Ravon, Jonathan H. Epstein, Thavry Hoem, Neil Furey, Morgane Labadie, Mathieu Bourgarel, Hélène M. De Nys, Alexandre Caron and Julien Cappelle

Breeding habitat loss reveals limited foraging flexibility and increases foraging effort in a colonial breeding seabird

Habitat loss can force animals to relocate to new areas, where they would need to adjust to an unfamiliar resource landscape and find new breeding sites. Relocation may be costly and could compromise reproduct...

Authors: Marwa M. Kavelaars, Jan M. Baert, Eric W. M. Stienen, Judy Shamoun-Baranes, Luc Lens and Wendt Müller

The importance of individual movement and feeding behaviour for long-distance seed dispersal by red deer: a data-driven model

Long-distance seed dispersal (LDD) has strong impacts on the spatiotemporal dynamics of plants. Large animals are important LDD vectors because they regularly transport seeds of many plant species over long di...

Authors: Stephen J. Wright, Marco Heurich, Carsten M. Buchmann, Reinhard Böcker and Frank M. Schurr

Reptiles on the wrong track? Moving beyond traditional estimators with dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Models

Animal movement expressed through home ranges or space-use can offer insights into spatial and habitat requirements. However, different classes of estimation methods are currently instinctively applied to answ...

Authors: Inês Silva, Matt Crane, Benjamin Michael Marshall and Colin Thomas Strine

Oversummering juvenile and adult Semipalmated sandpipers in Perú gain enough survival to compensate for foregone breeding opportunity

Age at maturity and the timing of first breeding are important life history traits. Most small shorebird species mature and breed as ‘yearlings’, but have lower reproductive success than adults. In some specie...

Authors: Eveling A. Tavera, Glenn E. Stauffer, David B. Lank and Ronald C. Ydenberg

Foraging behaviour of a continental shelf marine predator, the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), is associated with in situ, subsurface oceanographic conditions

The heterogeneous oceanographic conditions of continental shelf ecosystems result in a three-dimensionally patchy distribution of prey available to upper-trophic level predators. The association of bio-physica...

Authors: B. V. R. Nowak, W. D. Bowen, K. Whoriskey, D. C. Lidgard, J. E. Mills Flemming and S. J. Iverson

Inferring an animal’s environment through biologging: quantifying the environmental influence on animal movement

Animals respond to environmental variation by changing their movement in a multifaceted way. Recent advancements in biologging increasingly allow for detailed measurements of the multifaceted nature of movemen...

Authors: J. A. J. Eikelboom, H. J. de Knegt, M. Klaver, F. van Langevelde, T. van der Wal and H. H. T. Prins

Behavioral modifications by a large-northern herbivore to mitigate warming conditions

Temperatures in arctic-boreal regions are increasing rapidly and pose significant challenges to moose (Alces alces), a heat-sensitive large-bodied mammal. Moose act as ecosystem engineers, by regulating forest ca...

Authors: Jyoti S. Jennewein, Mark Hebblewhite, Peter Mahoney, Sophie Gilbert, Arjan J. H. Meddens, Natalie T. Boelman, Kyle Joly, Kimberly Jones, Kalin A. Kellie, Scott Brainerd, Lee A. Vierling and Jan U. H. Eitel

Using movement to inform conservation corridor design for Mojave desert tortoise

Preserving corridors for movement and gene flow among populations can assist in the recovery of threatened and endangered species. As human activity continues to fragment habitats, characterizing natural corri...

Authors: Steven J. Hromada, Todd C. Esque, Amy G. Vandergast, Kirsten E. Dutcher, Corey I. Mitchell, Miranda E. Gray, Tony Chang, Brett G. Dickson and Kenneth E. Nussear

Tracking animal movements using biomarkers in tail hairs: a novel approach for animal geolocating from sulfur isoscapes

Current animal tracking studies are most often based on the application of external geolocators such as GPS and radio transmitters. While these technologies provide detailed movement data, they are costly to a...

Authors: Zabibu Kabalika, Thomas A. Morrison, Rona A. R. McGill, Linus K. Munishi, Divine Ekwem, Wilson Leonidas Mahene, Alex L. Lobora, Jason Newton, Juan M. Morales, Daniel T. Haydon and Grant G. J. C. Hopcraft

Foraging movements of breeding Kelp Gulls in South Africa

Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus are one of the most abundant gulls in the Southern Hemisphere and can play an important role in their ecosystem. Understanding their foraging ecology is therefore important, especiall...

Authors: Katharina Reusch, Nicolás Suárez, Peter G. Ryan and Lorien Pichegru

Reducing human pressure on farmland could rescue China’s declining wintering geese

While goose populations worldwide benefit from food provided by farmland, China’s threatened wintering goose populations have failed to capitalize on farmland. It has been proposed that, due to an exceptionall...

Authors: Yali Si, Jie Wei, Wenzhao Wu, Wenyuan Zhang, Lin Hou, Le Yu and Ben Wielstra

Surviving in steep terrain: a lab-to-field assessment of locomotor costs for wild mountain lions (Puma concolor)

Under current scenarios of climate change and habitat loss, many wild animals, especially large predators, are moving into novel energetically challenging environments. Consequently, changes in terrain associa...

Authors: Carolyn E. Dunford, Nikki J. Marks, Christopher C. Wilmers, Caleb M. Bryce, Barry Nickel, Lisa L. Wolfe, D. Michael Scantlebury and Terrie M. Williams

No room to roam: King Cobras reduce movement in agriculture

Studying animal movement provides insights into how animals react to land-use changes. As agriculture expands, we can use animal movement to examine how animals change their behaviour in response. Recent revie...

Authors: Benjamin Michael Marshall, Matt Crane, Inês Silva, Colin Thomas Strine, Max Dolton Jones, Cameron Wesley Hodges, Pongthep Suwanwaree, Taksin Artchawakom, Surachit Waengsothorn and Matt Goode

Riders on the storm: loggerhead sea turtles detect and respond to a major hurricane in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Extreme weather events, including hurricanes, have considerable biological, ecological, and anthropogenic impacts. Hurricane Irene caused substantial economic damage when it hit the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) of...

Authors: Leah M. Crowe, Joshua M. Hatch, Samir H. Patel, Ronald J. Smolowitz and Heather L. Haas

A continuous-time state-space model for rapid quality control of argos locations from animal-borne tags

State-space models are important tools for quality control and analysis of error-prone animal movement data. The near real-time (within 24 h) capability of the Argos satellite system can aid dynamic ocean mana...

Authors: Ian D. Jonsen, Toby A. Patterson, Daniel P. Costa, Philip D. Doherty, Brendan J. Godley, W. James Grecian, Christophe Guinet, Xavier Hoenner, Sarah S. Kienle, Patrick W. Robinson, Stephen C. Votier, Scott Whiting, Matthew J. Witt, Mark A. Hindell, Robert G. Harcourt and Clive R. McMahon

Movement-assisted localization from acoustic telemetry data

Acoustic telemetry technologies are being increasingly deployed to study a variety of aquatic taxa including fishes, reptiles, and marine mammals. Large cooperative telemetry networks produce vast quantities o...

Authors: Nathan J. Hostetter and J. Andrew Royle

A guide for studying among-individual behavioral variation from movement data in the wild

Animal tracking and biologging devices record large amounts of data on individual movement behaviors in natural environments. In these data, movement ecologists often view unexplained variation around the mean...

Authors: Anne G. Hertel, Petri T. Niemelä, Niels J. Dingemanse and Thomas Mueller

A critical assessment of marine predator isoscapes within the southern Indian Ocean

Precise and accurate retrospective geolocation of marine predators via their tissues’ isotopic composition relies on quality reference maps of relevant isotopic gradients (“isoscapes”). Additionally, a good wo...

Authors: Tegan Carpenter-Kling, Pierre Pistorius, Ryan Reisinger, Yves Cherel and Maëlle Connan

Inter-individual differences in foraging tactics of a colonial raptor: consistency, weather effects, and fitness correlates

Consistent inter-individual differences in behavioural phenotypes may entail differences in energy efficiency and expenditure, with different fitness payoffs. In colonial-breeding species, inter-individual dif...

Authors: Jacopo G. Cecere, Federico De Pascalis, Simona Imperio, Delphine Ménard, Carlo Catoni, Matteo Griggio and Diego Rubolini

High-resolution, non-invasive animal tracking and reconstruction of local environment in aquatic ecosystems

Acquiring high resolution quantitative behavioural data underwater often involves installation of costly infrastructure, or capture and manipulation of animals. Aquatic movement ecology can therefore be limite...

Authors: Fritz A Francisco, Paul Nührenberg and Alex Jordan

Both short and long distance migrants use energy-minimizing migration strategies in North American herring gulls

Recent studies have proposed that birds migrating short distances migrate at an overall slower pace, minimizing energy expenditure, while birds migrating long distances minimize time spent on migration to cope...

Authors: Christine M. Anderson, H. Grant Gilchrist, Robert A. Ronconi, Katherine R. Shlepr, Daniel E. Clark, David A. Fifield, Gregory J. Robertson and Mark L. Mallory

An application of upscaled optimal foraging theory using hidden Markov modelling: year-round behavioural variation in a large arctic herbivore

In highly seasonal environments, animals face critical decisions regarding time allocation, diet optimisation, and habitat use. In the Arctic, the short summers are crucial for replenishing body reserves, whil...

Authors: Larissa T. Beumer, Jennifer Pohle, Niels M. Schmidt, Marianna Chimienti, Jean-Pierre Desforges, Lars H. Hansen, Roland Langrock, Stine Højlund Pedersen, Mikkel Stelvig and Floris M. van Beest

Analysis of movement recursions to detect reproductive events and estimate their fate in central place foragers

Recursive movement patterns have been used to detect behavioral structure within individual movement trajectories in the context of foraging ecology, home-ranging behavior, and predator avoidance. Some animals...

Authors: Simona Picardi, Brian J. Smith, Matthew E. Boone, Peter C. Frederick, Jacopo G. Cecere, Diego Rubolini, Lorenzo Serra, Simone Pirrello, Rena R. Borkhataria and Mathieu Basille

Niche switching and leapfrog foraging: movement ecology of sympatric petrels during the early breeding season

The timing of events in the early part of the breeding season is crucially important for successful reproduction. Long-lived animals that migrate large distances independently of each other meet at the breedin...

Authors: Petra Quillfeldt, Henri Weimerskirch, Karine Delord and Yves Cherel

Autumn migration direction of juvenile willow warblers (Phylloscopus t. trochilus and P. t. acredula) and their hybrids assessed by qPCR SNP genotyping

Geographic regions, where two closely related taxa with different migration routes come into contact, are known as migratory divides. Hybrids originating from migratory divides are hypothesized to migrate inte...

Authors: Tianhao Zhao, Mihaela Ilieva, Keith Larson, Max Lundberg, Júlio M. Neto, Kristaps Sokolovskis, Susanne Åkesson and Staffan Bensch

Rattlesnake migrations and the implications of thermal landscapes

The importance of thermal resources to terrestrial ectotherms has been well documented but less often considered in larger-scale analyses of habitat use and selection, such as those routinely conducted using s...

Authors: Jessica A. Harvey and Karl W. Larsen

Correction to: Towards the restoration of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor for large mammals in Panama: comparing multi-species occupancy to movement models

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Ninon F. V. Meyer, Ricardo Moreno, Rafael Reyna-Hurtado, Johannes Signer and Niko Balkenhol

Editorial: thematic series “Integrating movement ecology with biodiversity research”

Authors: Florian Jeltsch and Volker Grimm

Space use and habitat selection of an invasive mesopredator and sympatric, native apex predator

Where mesopredators co-exist with dominant apex predators, an understanding of the factors that influence their habitat and space use can provide insights that help guide wildlife conservation and pest managem...

Authors: Michael L. Wysong, Bronwyn A. Hradsky, Gwenllian D. Iacona, Leonie E. Valentine, Keith Morris and Euan G. Ritchie

Behavioral rhythms of an opportunistic predator living in anthropogenic landscapes

Human activities have profoundly altered the spatio-temporal availability of food resources. Yet, there is a clear lack of knowledge on how opportunistic species adapt to these new circumstances by scheduling ...

Authors: Yaiza Parra-Torres, Francisco Ramírez, Isabel Afán, Jacopo Aguzzi, Willem Bouten, Manuela G. Forero and Joan Navarro

The boon and bane of boldness: movement syndrome as saviour and sink for population genetic diversity

Many felid species are of high conservation concern, and with increasing human disturbance the situation is worsening. Small isolated populations are at risk of genetic impoverishment decreasing within-species...

Authors: Joseph Premier, Jörns Fickel, Marco Heurich and Stephanie Kramer-Schadt

Living la Vida T-LoCoH: site fidelity of Florida ranched and wild white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during the epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) transmission period

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) is a pathogen vectored by Culicoides midges that causes significant economic loss in the cervid farming industry and affects wild deer as well. Despite this, its ecology...

Authors: Emily T. N. Dinh, Allison Cauvin, Jeremy P. Orange, Rebecca M. Shuman, Samantha M. Wisely and Jason K. Blackburn

Modelling movement and stage-specific habitat preferences of a polyphagous insect pest

The feeding preferences of Diabrotica speciosa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) cause a parent-offspring conflict, as providing the best host for the offspring development is detrimental to adult survival and fecundit...

Authors: Adriano G. Garcia, Wesley A. C. Godoy, Fernando L. Cônsoli and Claudia P. Ferreira

Causes and consequences of individual variation in animal movement

Animal movement comes in a variety of ‘types’ including small foraging movements, larger one-way dispersive movements, seasonally-predictable round-trip migratory movements, and erratic nomadic movements. Alth...

Authors: Allison K. Shaw

Sex-differences in fine-scale home-range use in an upper-trophic level marine predator

The distribution of prey in the ocean is spatially and temporally patchy. How predators respond to this prey patchiness may have consequences on their foraging success, and thus physical condition. The recent ...

Authors: D. C. Lidgard, W. D. Bowen and S. J. Iverson

Habitat availability influences migration speed, refueling patterns and seasonal flyways of a fly-and-forage migrant

Despite our understanding of the principal factors that shape bird migration strategies, there is conflicting evidence regarding the role of habitat in shaping migration routes and schedules, including day and...

Authors: Thomas G. Hadjikyriakou, Emmanuel C. Nwankwo, Munir Z. Virani and Alexander N. G. Kirschel

Understanding decision making in a food-caching predator using hidden Markov models

Tackling behavioural questions often requires identifying points in space and time where animals make decisions and linking these to environmental variables. State-space modeling is useful for analysing moveme...

Authors: Mohammad S. Farhadinia, Théo Michelot, Paul J. Johnson, Luke T. B. Hunter and David W. Macdonald

Active acoustic telemetry tracking and tri-axial accelerometers reveal fine-scale movement strategies of a non-obligate ram ventilator

California horn sharks (Heterodontus francisci) are nocturnally active, non-obligate ram ventilating sharks in rocky reef habitats that play an important ecological role in regulating invertebrate communities. We...

Authors: Emily N. Meese and Christopher G. Lowe

Effects of age on foraging behavior in two closely related albatross species

Foraging performance is widely hypothesized to play a key role in shaping age-specific demographic rates in wild populations, yet the underlying behavioral changes are poorly understood. Seabirds are among the...

Authors: Caitlin K. Frankish, Andrea Manica and Richard A. Phillips

Stopover departure decisions in songbirds: do long-distance migrants depart earlier and more independently of weather conditions than medium-distance migrants?

Songbirds following distinct migration strategies (e.g. long- vs. short- to medium-distance migrants) often differ in their speed of migration during autumn and, thus, are assumed to face different time constr...

Authors: Florian Packmor, Thomas Klinner, Bradley K. Woodworth, Cas Eikenaar and Heiko Schmaljohann

The physiology of movement

Movement, from foraging to migration, is known to be under the influence of the environment. The translation of environmental cues to individual movement decision making is determined by an individual’s intern...

Authors: Steven Goossens, Nicky Wybouw, Thomas Van Leeuwen and Dries Bonte

Movement behaviour of two social urticating caterpillars in opposite hemispheres

Investigating movement ecology of organisms has economic, societal, and conservation benefits. Larval movement of insects for example, plays many significant ecological roles, and with the expansion of the hum...

Authors: Mizuki Uemura, Lynda E. Perkins, Myron P. Zalucki and Andrea Battisti

Towards the restoration of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor for large mammals in Panama: comparing multi-species occupancy to movement models

Habitat fragmentation is a primary driver of wildlife loss, and the establishment of biological corridors is a conservation strategy to mitigate this problem. Identifying areas with high potential functional c...

Authors: Ninon F. V. Meyer, Ricardo Moreno, Rafael Reyna-Hurtado, Johannes Signer and Niko Balkenhol

Dispersal and life-history traits in a spider with rapid range expansion

Dispersal and reproduction are key life-history traits that jointly determine species’ potential to expand their distribution, for instance in light of ongoing climate change. These life-history traits are kno...

Authors: Marina Wolz, Michael Klockmann, Torben Schmitz, Stano Pekár, Dries Bonte and Gabriele Uhl

Contrasted habitats and individual plasticity drive the fine scale movements of juvenile green turtles in coastal ecosystems

A strong behavioural plasticity is commonly evidenced in the movements of marine megafauna species, and it might be related to an adaptation to local conditions of the habitat. One way to investigate such beha...

Authors: Philippine Chambault, Mayeul Dalleau, Jean-Benoît Nicet, Pascal Mouquet, Katia Ballorain, Claire Jean, Stéphane Ciccione and Jérôme Bourjea

Time and energy costs of different foraging choices in an avian generalist species

Animals can obtain a higher foraging yield by optimizing energy expenditure or minimizing time costs. In this study, we assessed how individual variation in the relative use of marine and terrestrial foraging ...

Authors: Alejandro Sotillo, Jan M. Baert, Wendt Müller, Eric W. M. Stienen, Amadeu M. V. M. Soares and Luc Lens

Size-dependent tradeoffs in seasonal freshwater environments facilitate differential salmonid migration

Seasonal spatio-temporal variation in habitat quality and abiotic conditions leads to animals migrating between different environments around the world. Whereas mean population timing of migration is often fai...

Authors: Philip Dermond, Carlos J. Melián and Jakob Brodersen