An application of upscaled optimal foraging theory using hidden Markov modelling: year-round behavioural variation in a large arctic herbivore

In highly seasonal environments, animals face critical decisions regarding time allocation, diet optimisation, and habitat use. In the Arctic, the short summers are crucial for replenishing body reserves, while low food availability and increased energetic demands characterise the long winters (9–10...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Movement Ecology
Main Authors: Beumer, Larissa T., Pohle, Jennifer, Schmidt, Niels M., Chimienti, Marianna, Desforges, Jean-Pierre, Hansen, Lars H., Langrock, Roland, Pedersen, Stine Højlund, Stelvig, Mikkel, van Beest, Floris M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2020
Subjects:
Activity budgets
Arctic ungulate
Behavioural state classification
Hidden Markov modelling
Optimal foraging theory
Seasonality
Arctic
ovibos moschatus
Online Access:https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/7d90f467-684e-401c-ae45-a71c927c1bfb
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-020-00213-x
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086771235&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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Summary:In highly seasonal environments, animals face critical decisions regarding time allocation, diet optimisation, and habitat use. In the Arctic, the short summers are crucial for replenishing body reserves, while low food availability and increased energetic demands characterise the long winters (9–10 months). Under such extreme seasonal variability, even small deviations from optimal time allocation can markedly impact individuals’ condition, reproductive success and survival. We investigated which environmental conditions influenced daily, seasonal, and interannual variation in time allocation in high-arctic muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and evaluated whether results support qualitative predictions derived from upscaled optimal foraging theory.

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