Social and seasonal variation in dwarf mongoose home-range size, daily movements, and burrow use.

ABSTRACT: When making decisions about resource use, social species must integrate not only environmental factors but also the influence of opportunities and costs associated with group living. Bigger groups are expected to move further and to need access to larger areas for adequate food acquisition, but the relationships with group size can vary seasonally and with reproductive stage. Shelters are often more consistent in availability than food, but their use relates to factors such as predator defense and parasite transmission that are themselves influenced by group size and seasonality. Here, we used long-term data to investigate resource use and associated movement in a wild population of dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula). We found that bigger groups occupied larger home ranges, moved la

SUBMITTER: Arbon JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11520750 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature