Suite of simple metrics reveals common movement syndromes across vertebrate taxa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Because empirical studies of animal movement are most-often site- and species-specific, we lack understanding of the level of consistency in movement patterns across diverse taxa, as well as a framework for quantitatively classifying movement patterns. We aim to address this gap by determining the extent to which statistical signatures of animal movement patterns recur across ecological systems. We assessed a suite of movement metrics derived from GPS trajectories of thirteen marine and terrestrial vertebrate species spanning three taxonomic classes, orders of magnitude in body size, and modes of movement (swimming, flying, walking). Using these metrics, we performed a principal components analysis and cluster analysis to determine if individuals organized into statistic

SUBMITTER: Abrahms B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5452391 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature