Multi-scale movement syndromes for comparative analyses of animal movement patterns

Table 1 Potential importance of six classes of factors on three scales of movement

	Step	Path	Life-history Phase
Sensory Perception	*** Sight, sound, smell: determines exact route taken	* Long distance perception	0
Movement Ability	*** Species specific locomotor abilities, also related to type of terrain moving through	** Endurance	* In conjunction with lifespan, places an upper limit on the area an individual can exploit
Ecological Niche	*** Food, shelter, predator avoidance	*** Food, shelter, predator avoidance	*** Food, shelter, predator avoidance
Social Interactions	*** Attraction & avoidance of immediate group members	*** Attraction and avoidance of non group members, territoriality	*** Attraction and avoidance of non group members, territoriality, seasonal breeding
Memory	* Direction of travel towards distant goal	*** Planned movement to known resources	* Seasonally changing resources

One to three *’s indicate the relative importance of the factors at each scale, and therefore our ability to draw inference about them based on observed patterns of movement

ISSN: 2051-3933