Integrative modelling of animal movement: incorporating in situ habitat and behavioural information for a migratory marine predator
A fundamental goal in animal ecology is to quantify how environmental (andother) factors influence individual movement, as this is key to understandingresponsiveness of populations to future change. However, quantitativeinterpretation of individual-based telemetry data is hampered by the complexityo...
| Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Royal Society Publishing
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2262 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23135676 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/89023 |
| Summary: | A fundamental goal in animal ecology is to quantify how environmental (andother) factors influence individual movement, as this is key to understandingresponsiveness of populations to future change. However, quantitativeinterpretation of individual-based telemetry data is hampered by the complexityof, and error within, these multi-dimensional data. Here, we present anintegrative hierarchical Bayesian state-space modelling approach where, forthe first time, the mechanistic process model for themovement state of animalsdirectly incorporates both environmental and other behavioural information,and observation and process model parameters are estimated within asingle model. When applied to a migratory marine predator, the southern elephantseal ( Mirounga leonina ), we find the switch from directed to residentmovement state was associated with colder water temperatures, relativelyshort dive bottom time and rapid descent rates. The approach presentedhere can have widespread utility for quantifying movementbehaviour(diving or other)environment relationships across species and systems. |
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