Inferring parturition and neonate survival from movement patterns of female ungulates: a case study using woodland caribou.

ABSTRACT: Analyses of animal movement data have primarily focused on understanding patterns of space use and the behavioural processes driving them. Here, we analyzed animal movement data to infer components of individual fitness, specifically parturition and neonate survival. We predicted that parturition and neonate loss events could be identified by sudden and marked changes in female movement patterns. Using GPS radio-telemetry data from female woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), we developed and tested two novel movement-based methods for inferring parturition and neonate survival. The first method estimated movement thresholds indicative of parturition and neonate loss from population-level data then applied these thresholds in a moving-window analysis on individual time-series data.

SUBMITTER: Demars CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3853560 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature