Characterizing population and individual migration patterns among native and restored bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis).

ABSTRACT: Migration evolved as a behavior to enhance fitness through exploiting spatially and temporally variable resources and avoiding predation or other threats. Globally, landscape alterations have resulted in declines to migratory populations across taxa. Given the long time periods over which migrations evolved in native systems, it is unlikely that restored populations embody the same migratory complexity that existed before population reductions or regional extirpation.We used GPS location data collected from 209 female bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) to characterize population and individual migration patterns along elevation and geographic continuums for 18 populations of bighorn sheep with different management histories (i.e., restored, augmented, and native) across the western Uni

SUBMITTER: Lowrey B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6686647 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature