Data from: Natal habitat preference induction in large mammals – Like mother, like child? ...

• Main Authors: Larue, Benjamin, Côté, Steeve D., St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues, Dussault, Christian, Leblond, Mathieu
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2018
• Subjects: Rangifer tarandus; Natal experience; behavioral repeatability; Canada
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.24q6q70; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.24q6q70

Habitat selection has received considerable attention from ecologists during the last decades, yet the underlying forces shaping individual differences in habitat selection are poorly documented. Some of these differences could be explained by the early experience of individuals in their natal habitat. By selecting habitat attributes like those encountered early in life, individuals could improve resource acquisition, survival, and ultimately fitness. This behaviour, known as natal habitat preference induction (NHPI), could be particularly common in large mammals, because offspring generally stay with their mother for an extended period. We used three complementary approaches to assess NHPI in a marked population of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou): 1) population-based resource selection functions (RSFs), 2) individual-based RSFs, and 3) behavioural repeatability analyses. All approaches compared the behaviour of calves in their natal range to their behaviour as independent subadults during the ... : Repeatability dataData used to estimate repeatability of habitat selection in a boreal population of woodland caribou in Charlevoix, Québec, Canada, 2004‒2011, during the snow-covered and snow-free seasons.RepeatabilityData.xlsx ...