Extensive daily movement rates measured in territorial arctic foxes
Abstract An animal's movement rate is a central metric of movement ecology as it correlates with its energy acquisition and expenditure. Obtaining accurate estimates of movement rate is challenging, especially in small highly mobile species where GPS battery size limits fix frequency, and geolo...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5e5c3b4282fa457a8754d2be6044da7a 2023-05-15T14:53:01+02:00 Extensive daily movement rates measured in territorial arctic foxes Marie‐Pier Poulin Jeanne Clermont Dominique Berteaux 2021-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7165 https://doaj.org/article/5e5c3b4282fa457a8754d2be6044da7a EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7165 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.7165 https://doaj.org/article/5e5c3b4282fa457a8754d2be6044da7a Ecology and Evolution, Vol 11, Iss 6, Pp 2503-2514 (2021) fix interval GPS satellite tracking home range movement rate traveled distance Vulpes lagopus Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7165 2022-12-31T06:29:49Z Abstract An animal's movement rate is a central metric of movement ecology as it correlates with its energy acquisition and expenditure. Obtaining accurate estimates of movement rate is challenging, especially in small highly mobile species where GPS battery size limits fix frequency, and geolocation technology limits positions’ precision. In this study, we used high GPS fix frequencies to evaluate movement rates in eight territorial arctic foxes on Bylot Island (Nunavut, Canada) in July–August 2018. We also assessed the effects of fix interval and location error on estimated movement rates. We obtained 96 fox‐days of data with a fix interval of 4 min and 12 fox‐days with an interval of 30 s. We subsampled the latter dataset to simulate six longer fix intervals ranging from 1 to 60 min and estimated daily distances traveled by adding linear distances between successive locations. When estimated with a fix interval of 4 min, daily distances traveled by arctic foxes averaged 51.9 ± 11.7 km and reached 76.5 km. GPS location error averaged 11 m. Daily distances estimated at fix intervals longer than 4 min were greatly underestimated as fix intervals increased, because of linear estimation of tortuous movements. Conversely, daily distances estimated at fix intervals as small as 30 s were likely overestimated due to location error. To our knowledge, no other territorial terrestrial carnivore was shown to routinely travel daily distances as large as those observed here for arctic foxes. Our results generate new hypotheses and research directions regarding the foraging ecology of highly mobile predators. Furthermore, our empirical assessment of the effects of fix interval and location error on estimated movement rates can guide the design and interpretation of future studies on the movement ecology of small opportunistic foragers. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Bylot Island Nunavut Vulpes lagopus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Bylot Island Canada Nunavut Ecology and Evolution 11 6 2503 2514 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
fix interval GPS satellite tracking home range movement rate traveled distance Vulpes lagopus Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
fix interval GPS satellite tracking home range movement rate traveled distance Vulpes lagopus Ecology QH540-549.5 Marie‐Pier Poulin Jeanne Clermont Dominique Berteaux Extensive daily movement rates measured in territorial arctic foxes |
topic_facet |
fix interval GPS satellite tracking home range movement rate traveled distance Vulpes lagopus Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract An animal's movement rate is a central metric of movement ecology as it correlates with its energy acquisition and expenditure. Obtaining accurate estimates of movement rate is challenging, especially in small highly mobile species where GPS battery size limits fix frequency, and geolocation technology limits positions’ precision. In this study, we used high GPS fix frequencies to evaluate movement rates in eight territorial arctic foxes on Bylot Island (Nunavut, Canada) in July–August 2018. We also assessed the effects of fix interval and location error on estimated movement rates. We obtained 96 fox‐days of data with a fix interval of 4 min and 12 fox‐days with an interval of 30 s. We subsampled the latter dataset to simulate six longer fix intervals ranging from 1 to 60 min and estimated daily distances traveled by adding linear distances between successive locations. When estimated with a fix interval of 4 min, daily distances traveled by arctic foxes averaged 51.9 ± 11.7 km and reached 76.5 km. GPS location error averaged 11 m. Daily distances estimated at fix intervals longer than 4 min were greatly underestimated as fix intervals increased, because of linear estimation of tortuous movements. Conversely, daily distances estimated at fix intervals as small as 30 s were likely overestimated due to location error. To our knowledge, no other territorial terrestrial carnivore was shown to routinely travel daily distances as large as those observed here for arctic foxes. Our results generate new hypotheses and research directions regarding the foraging ecology of highly mobile predators. Furthermore, our empirical assessment of the effects of fix interval and location error on estimated movement rates can guide the design and interpretation of future studies on the movement ecology of small opportunistic foragers. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marie‐Pier Poulin Jeanne Clermont Dominique Berteaux |
author_facet |
Marie‐Pier Poulin Jeanne Clermont Dominique Berteaux |
author_sort |
Marie‐Pier Poulin |
title |
Extensive daily movement rates measured in territorial arctic foxes |
title_short |
Extensive daily movement rates measured in territorial arctic foxes |
title_full |
Extensive daily movement rates measured in territorial arctic foxes |
title_fullStr |
Extensive daily movement rates measured in territorial arctic foxes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Extensive daily movement rates measured in territorial arctic foxes |
title_sort |
extensive daily movement rates measured in territorial arctic foxes |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7165 https://doaj.org/article/5e5c3b4282fa457a8754d2be6044da7a |
geographic |
Arctic Bylot Island Canada Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island Canada Nunavut |
genre |
Arctic Bylot Island Nunavut Vulpes lagopus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island Nunavut Vulpes lagopus |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution, Vol 11, Iss 6, Pp 2503-2514 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7165 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.7165 https://doaj.org/article/5e5c3b4282fa457a8754d2be6044da7a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7165 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2503 |
op_container_end_page |
2514 |
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1766324441246072832 |