Estimating home-range size: when to include a third dimension?

Autor(es)

Monterroso, Pedro ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Sillero, Neftali ^[4] ; Rosalino, Luis Miguel ^{[5, 6]} ; Loureiro, Filipa ^[5] ; Alves, Paulo Celio ^{[1, 2, 7]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Porto, CIBIO Ctr Invest Biodiversidade & Recursos Genet, P-4485661 Vairao - Portugal

^[2] Univ Porto, Fac Ciencias, Dept Biol, P-4150150 Oporto - Portugal

^[3] Inst Invest Recursos Cineget IREC CSIC UCLM JCCM, Ciudad Real 13005 - Spain

^[4] Univ Porto, Fac Ciencias, CICGE, Observ Astron Prof Manuel Barros, P-4485661 Vairao - Portugal

^[5] Univ Lisbon, Ctr Biol Ambiental, Fac Ciencias Lisboa, P-1749016 Lisbon - Portugal

^[6] Univ Sao Paulo, Lab Ecol Isotop, CENA, BR-13416000 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[7] Univ Montana, Wildlife Biol Program, Coll Forestry & Conservat, Missoula, MT 59801 - USA

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION; v. 3, n. 7, p. 2285-2295, JUL 2013.
• Citações Web of Science: 2

Resumo

Most studies dealing with home ranges consider the study areas as if they were totally flat, working only in two dimensions, when in reality they are irregular surfaces displayed in three dimensions. By disregarding the third dimension (i.e., topography), the size of home ranges underestimates the surface actually occupied by the animal, potentially leading to misinterpretations of the animals' ecological needs. We explored the influence of considering the third dimension in the estimation of home-range size by modeling the variation between the planimetric and topographic estimates at several spatial scales. Our results revealed that planimetric approaches underestimate home-range size estimations, which range from nearly zero up to 22%. The difference between planimetric and topographic estimates of home-ranges sizes produced highly robust models using the average slope as the sole independent factor. Moreover, our models suggest that planimetric estimates in areas with an average slope of 16.3 degrees (+/- 0.4) or more will incur in errors >= 5%. Alternatively, the altitudinal range can be used as an indicator of the need to include topography in home-range estimates. Our results confirmed that home-range estimates could be significantly biased when topography is disregarded. We suggest that study areas where home-range studies will be performed should firstly be scoped for its altitudinal range, which can serve as an indicator for the need for posterior use of average slope values to model the surface area used and/or available for the studied animals. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 11/00408-4 - Adaptação de mesocarnívoros a ambientes alterados pelo homem em duas realidades espacio-temporais diferentes: o caso dos eucaliptais no Brasil e em Portugal
• Beneficiário: Luis Miguel do Carmo Rosalino
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado