Why does animal home range size decrease with population density?

ABSTRACT: Spatial confinement to a home range is theorized to be a more energetically efficient method of acquiring resources than random searching due to spatial memory. Intraspecific studies that have compared home range size at different population densities have found that home ranges shrink as population density increases. This negative trend could be due to increased conspecific competition via population density increase or due to correlations between resource density and population density. We use the 10-year population cycle of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) and individual-level food-add experiments as a case study to assess whether the mechanism of the relationship between home range size and population density is related to competition from increased conspecific density or confounds be

SUBMITTER: Balluffi-Fry J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11967322 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature