Radio Tracking and Animal Populations

Radio Tracking and Animal Populations is a succinct synthesis of emerging technologies and their applications to the empirical and theoretical problems of population assessment. The book is divided into sections designed to encompass the various aspects of animal ecology that may be evaluated using radiotelemetry technology - experimental design, equipment and technology, animal movement, resource selection, and demographics. Wildlife biologists at the leading edge of new developments in the technology and its application have joined forces.

Faculty, researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates interested in animal ecology and demography, wildlife biology, conservation biology, vertebrate zoology and ecology, as well as policy makers and land managers who need to evaluate the quality of contracted animal surveys and impact studies.

Contributors

Preface

Part I: Introduction

Chapter 1. Historical and Practical Perspectives

The First 20 Years

The Third Decade

The 1990s

The Future

Part II: Experimental Design

Chapter 2. Experimental Design for Radiotelemetry Studies

Critical Questions for Experimental Design

Ultimate Design: Demographic Responses to Landscape Conditions and Resource Selection

Summary

Chapter 3. Effects of Tagging and Location Error in Wildlife Radiotelemetry Studies

Effects of Transmitters on Animals

Location Error

Testing and Reporting Error Estimates

Summary

Part III: Equipment and Technology

Chapter 4. Recent Telemetry Technology

Power Supplies

Microcontrollers

Coded Transmitters

Sensors

Archival Tags

Satellite Telemetry Systems

Hyperbolic Telemetry Systems

Implications for Data Analysis

Implications for Researchers

Future Directions

Part IV: Animal Movements

Chapter 5. Analysis of Animal Space Use and Movements

Using Home Range Estimators to Analyze Animal Space Use

Analysis of Site Fidelity

Analysis of Animal Interactions

The Future: Modeling the Movement Process

Summary

Chapter 6. Fractal-Based Spatial Analysis of Radiotelemetry Data

Multiscale Analysis of Radiotelemetry Data

Fractal Analysis of Spatial Pattern

Modeling Fractal Patterns: Lévy Flights

Example: Sage Grouse Location Data

Future Directions

Summary

Chapter 7. Estimating and Visualizing Movement Paths from Radio-Tracking Data

Sources of Variation

Improving Accuracy and Precision

Demonstration

Visualizing Paths

Future Directions

Conclusions

Part V: Resource Selection

Chapter 8. Statistical Issues in Resource Selection Studies with Radio-Marked Animals

Common Assumptions in Resource Selection with Radio-Marked Animals

Inference from Resource Selection Studies

Study Designs

Scale and Resource Availability

Resource Use

Variable and Model Determination

Independence Issues

Analyzing Resource Use Relative to Availability

Future Directions

Summary

Chapter 9. Accounting for Variation in Resource Availability and Animal Behavior in Resource Selection Studies

Methods

Case Study: Summer, Diurnal, and Microsite Resource Selection by Elk in South Dakota

Results

Discussion

Summary

Chapter 10. Using Euclidean Distances to Assess Nonrandom Habitat Use

Desirable Characteristics of a Habitat Analysis Tool

Habitat Analysis with Euclidean Distances

Example of the Procedure Applied to Fox Squirrel Data

Comparison with Other Techniques

Benefits of the Euclidean Distance Approach

Research Needs

Future Directions

Summary

Chapter 11. Effect of Sample Size on the Performance of Resource Selection Analyses

Study Area and Technologies

Methods

Results

Discussion

Summary

Chapter 12. High-Tech Behavioral Ecology: Modeling the Distribution of Animal Activities to Better Understand Wildlife Space Use and Resource Selection

Space Use

Resource Selection

Improving Our Approach to the Study of Wildlife Radiotelemetry

Summary

Part VI: Population Demographics

Chapter 13. Population Estimation with Radio-Marked Animals

Direct Mark-Resight Estimation

Sightability Models

Correcting Bias of Grid Trapping Estimates

Future Developments

Summary

Chapter 14. Analysis of Survival Data from Radiotelemetry Studies

Approaches for Estimating Survival

Areas of Concern

What Must We Do?

Future Directions

Summary

Part VII: Concluding Remarks

Chapter 15. Radio-Tracking and Animal Populations: Past Trends and Future Needs

Past Trends

Future Needs

Appendix A. A Catalog of Software to Analyze Radiotelemetry Data

Preliminary Analyses

Animal Movements

Resource Selection

Demographics

General Statistics

Availability of Software

Equipment Vendors and Distributors

Literature Cited

Subject Index