Data from: Functional responses in habitat selection: clarifying hypotheses and interpretations ...

• Main Authors: Holbrook, Joseph D., Olson, Lucretia E., DeCesare, Nicholas J., Hebblewhite, Mark, Squires, John R., Steenweg, Robin
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2018
• Subjects: Lynx canadensis; generalized linear mixed-models; Rangifer tarandus; resource selection function; habitat availability; Lynx
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.47174j0; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.47174j0

A fundamental challenge in habitat ecology and management is understanding the mechanisms generating animal distributions. Studies of habitat selection provide a lens into such mechanisms, but are often limited by unrealistic assumptions. For example, most studies assume that habitat selection is constant with respect to the availability of resources, such that habitat use remains proportional to availability. To the contrary, a growing body of work has shown the fallacy of this assumption, indicating that animals modify their behavior depending on the context at broader scales. This has been termed a functional response in habitat selection. Furthermore, a diversity of methods are employed to model functional responses in habitat selection, with little attention how methodology might affect scientific and conservation conclusions. Here, we first review the conceptual and statistical foundations of methods currently used to model functional responses and clarify the ecological tests evaluated within each ... : Empirical_RCodeThe attached code goes through the differing methods to model functional responses using the lynx example dataset ("LynxExample.csv"). The final figure combines all of the different approaches to easily visualize the similarities and differences.EmpiricalRCode.txtLynxExampleSimulation_RCodeThe attached provides the simulation code used to develop the different functional response scenarios and implement the different modeling approaches.SimulationRCode.txt ...