Winter home range fidelity and extraterritorial movements of Arctic fox pairs in the Canadian High Arctic
The sociality of the Arctic fox has been extensively studied during the breeding season, so that its summer territorial and generally monogamous social systems are now well described. A key knowledge gap remains, however, during the winter season, when logistic challenges preclude detailed observati...
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ftjpolarres:oai:journals.openacademia.net:article/2708 2023-05-15T14:25:23+02:00 Winter home range fidelity and extraterritorial movements of Arctic fox pairs in the Canadian High Arctic Rioux, Marie-Jeanne Lai, Sandra Casajus, Nicolas Bêty, Joël Berteaux, Dominique 2018-11-23 application/pdf application/xml https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2708 eng eng Norwegian Polar Institute https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2708/6166 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2708/6167 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2708/6168 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2708 Polar Research; Vol. 36 No. (sup1) (2017): Special Issue: Arctic Fox Biology and Management 1751-8369 Pair bonding satellite tracking sociality space use territory Vulpes lagopus info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2018 ftjpolarres 2021-11-11T19:13:09Z The sociality of the Arctic fox has been extensively studied during the breeding season, so that its summer territorial and generally monogamous social systems are now well described. A key knowledge gap remains, however, during the winter season, when logistic challenges preclude detailed observation of individuals. We have studied the socio-spatial winter dynamics of Arctic fox pairs to determine: (1) winter fidelity of Arctic fox pair mates to their summer home range; (2) the degree to which extraterritorial movements are simultaneous between pair mates; and (3) spatial proximity between pair mates when they perform simultaneous extraterritorial movements. To meet these objectives, 15 Arctic fox pairs from Bylot Island (Nunavut, Canada) were tracked during at least one winter in 2007–2011, using Argos satellite collars, for a total of 21 pair-years. Arctic foxes were generally faithful to their summer home ranges during winter, but some variation occurred among pairs. The degree of territory fidelity was highly correlated between pair mates. When foxes did extraterritorial movements, they performed excursions that were short in duration and generally not synchronized among pair mates. When pair mates were outside the territory at the same time, they did not travel together and rather foraged independently. We discuss some ecological implications of our findings, and suggest that different patterns may be observed in other Arctic fox populations. If such is the case, replicating our study in other parts of the species range will allow productive hypothesis testing regarding the determinants of Arctic fox winter sociality. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Fox Arctic Bylot Island Nunavut Polar Research Vulpes lagopus Polar Research (E-Journal) Arctic Nunavut Bylot Island Canada |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Polar Research (E-Journal) |
op_collection_id |
ftjpolarres |
language |
English |
topic |
Pair bonding satellite tracking sociality space use territory Vulpes lagopus |
spellingShingle |
Pair bonding satellite tracking sociality space use territory Vulpes lagopus Rioux, Marie-Jeanne Lai, Sandra Casajus, Nicolas Bêty, Joël Berteaux, Dominique Winter home range fidelity and extraterritorial movements of Arctic fox pairs in the Canadian High Arctic |
topic_facet |
Pair bonding satellite tracking sociality space use territory Vulpes lagopus |
description |
The sociality of the Arctic fox has been extensively studied during the breeding season, so that its summer territorial and generally monogamous social systems are now well described. A key knowledge gap remains, however, during the winter season, when logistic challenges preclude detailed observation of individuals. We have studied the socio-spatial winter dynamics of Arctic fox pairs to determine: (1) winter fidelity of Arctic fox pair mates to their summer home range; (2) the degree to which extraterritorial movements are simultaneous between pair mates; and (3) spatial proximity between pair mates when they perform simultaneous extraterritorial movements. To meet these objectives, 15 Arctic fox pairs from Bylot Island (Nunavut, Canada) were tracked during at least one winter in 2007–2011, using Argos satellite collars, for a total of 21 pair-years. Arctic foxes were generally faithful to their summer home ranges during winter, but some variation occurred among pairs. The degree of territory fidelity was highly correlated between pair mates. When foxes did extraterritorial movements, they performed excursions that were short in duration and generally not synchronized among pair mates. When pair mates were outside the territory at the same time, they did not travel together and rather foraged independently. We discuss some ecological implications of our findings, and suggest that different patterns may be observed in other Arctic fox populations. If such is the case, replicating our study in other parts of the species range will allow productive hypothesis testing regarding the determinants of Arctic fox winter sociality. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rioux, Marie-Jeanne Lai, Sandra Casajus, Nicolas Bêty, Joël Berteaux, Dominique |
author_facet |
Rioux, Marie-Jeanne Lai, Sandra Casajus, Nicolas Bêty, Joël Berteaux, Dominique |
author_sort |
Rioux, Marie-Jeanne |
title |
Winter home range fidelity and extraterritorial movements of Arctic fox pairs in the Canadian High Arctic |
title_short |
Winter home range fidelity and extraterritorial movements of Arctic fox pairs in the Canadian High Arctic |
title_full |
Winter home range fidelity and extraterritorial movements of Arctic fox pairs in the Canadian High Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Winter home range fidelity and extraterritorial movements of Arctic fox pairs in the Canadian High Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Winter home range fidelity and extraterritorial movements of Arctic fox pairs in the Canadian High Arctic |
title_sort |
winter home range fidelity and extraterritorial movements of arctic fox pairs in the canadian high arctic |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2708 |
geographic |
Arctic Nunavut Bylot Island Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Nunavut Bylot Island Canada |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Fox Arctic Bylot Island Nunavut Polar Research Vulpes lagopus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Fox Arctic Bylot Island Nunavut Polar Research Vulpes lagopus |
op_source |
Polar Research; Vol. 36 No. (sup1) (2017): Special Issue: Arctic Fox Biology and Management 1751-8369 |
op_relation |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2708/6166 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2708/6167 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2708/6168 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2708 |
_version_ |
1766297789015261184 |