Sensitivity of landscape resistance estimates based on point selection functions to scale and behavioral state: pumas as a case study

Estimating landscape resistance to animal movement is the foundation for connectivity modeling, and resource selection functions based on point data are commonly used to empirically estimate resistance. In this study, we used GPS data points acquired at 5-min intervals from radiocollared pumas in southern California to model context-dependent point selection functions. We used mixed-effects conditional logistic regression models that incorporate a paired used/available design to examine the sensitivity of point selection functions to the scale of available habitat and to the behavioral state of individual animals. We compared parameter estimates, model performance, and resistance estimates across 37 scales of available habitat, from 250 to 10,000 m, and two behavioral states, resource use and movement. Point selection functions and resistance estimates were sensitive to the chosen scale of the analysis. Multiple characteristic scales were found across our predictor variables, indicating that pumas in the study area are responding at different scales to different landscape features and that multi-scale models may be more appropriate. Additionally, point selection functions and resistance estimates were sensitive to behavioral state; specifically, pumas engaged in resource use behavior had an opposite selection response to some land cover types than pumas engaged in movement behavior. We recommend examining a continuum of scales and behavioral states when using point selection functions to estimate resistance.

[1]  H. Fritz,et al.  Scale–dependent hierarchical adjustments of movement patterns in a long–range foraging seabird , 2003, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[2]  R. Macarthur.  The Problem of Pattern and Scale in Ecology: The Robert H. MacArthur Award Lecture , 2005 .

[3]  R. G. Davies,et al.  Methods to account for spatial autocorrelation in the analysis of species distributional data : a review , 2007 .

[4]  L. Fahrig,et al.  Determining the Spatial Scale of Species' Response to Habitat , 2004 .

[5]  J. Diniz‐Filho,et al.  Red herrings revisited: spatial autocorrelation and parameter estimation in geographical ecology , 2007 .

[6]  M. Wheatley.  Domains of scale in forest-landscape metrics: Implications for species-habitat modeling , 2010 .

[7]  J. Laundré,et al.  Impact of Edge Habitat on Summer Home Range Size in Female Pumas , 2007 .

[8]  Francesca Cagnacci,et al.  Resolving issues of imprecise and habitat-biased locations in ecological analyses using GPS telemetry data , 2010, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[9]  S. Levin.  The problem of pattern and scale in ecology , 1992 .

[10]  M. Hebblewhite,et al.  Transcending scale dependence in identifying habitat with resource selection functions. , 2012, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[11]  D. Theobald,et al.  Interfacing models of wildlife habitat and human development to predict the future distribution of puma habitat , 2010 .

[12]  R Core Team,et al.  R: A language and environment for statistical computing. , 2014 .

[13]  H. Quigley,et al.  Comparing Ground Telemetry and Global Positioning System Methods to Determine Cougar Kill Rates , 2010 .

[14]  D. Padilla,et al.  Ecological neighborhoods: scaling environmental patterns , 1987 .

[15]  O. Ovaskainen,et al.  State-space models of individual animal movement. , 2008, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[16]  W. Boyce,et al.  Puma and Human Spatial and Temporal Use of a Popular California State Park , 2008 .

[17]  P. Beier,et al.  INFLUENCE OF VEGETATION, TOPOGRAPHY, AND ROADS ON COUGAR MOVEMENT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA , 2005 .

[18]  Benjamin D. Dalziel,et al.  Fitting Probability Distributions to Animal Movement Trajectories: Using Artificial Neural Networks to Link Distance, Resources, and Memory , 2008, The American Naturalist.

[19]  J. Wiens.  Spatial Scaling in Ecology , 1989 .

[20]  Chris J. Johnson,et al.  Factors limiting our understanding of ecological scale , 2009 .

[21]  Amanda E. Martin,et al.  Measuring and selecting scales of effect for landscape predictors in species-habitat models. , 2012, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[22]  Juan M. Morales,et al.  EXTRACTING MORE OUT OF RELOCATION DATA: BUILDING MOVEMENT MODELS AS MIXTURES OF RANDOM WALKS , 2004 .

[23]  Wilfried Thuiller,et al.  Accuracy of resource selection functions across spatial scales , 2006 .

[24]  Alan Agresti,et al.  Categorical Data Analysis , 2003 .

[25]  V. Yovovich,et al.  Scale Dependent Behavioral Responses to Human Development by a Large Predator, the Puma , 2013, PloS one.

[26]  Lee A. Vierling,et al.  Effects of habitat on GPS collar performance: using data screening to reduce location error , 2007 .

[27]  J. Rhymer,et al.  HABITAT SELECTION BY WOOD TURTLES (CLEMMYS INSCULPTA): AN APPLICATION OF PAIRED LOGISTIC REGRESSION , 2002 .

[28]  B. Manly,et al.  Resource selection by animals: statistical design and analysis for field studies. , 1994 .

[29]  P. Legendre.  Spatial Autocorrelation: Trouble or New Paradigm? , 1993 .

[30]  Brett G. Dickson,et al.  Home-range and habitat selection by adult cougars in southern California , 2002 .

[31]  Kevin McGarigal,et al.  Estimating landscape resistance to movement: a review , 2012, Landscape Ecology.

[32]  Mevin B Hooten,et al.  Practical guidance on characterizing availability in resource selection functions under a use-availability design. , 2013, Ecology.

[33]  M. Boyce,et al.  Evaluating resource selection functions , 2002 .

[34]  P. Ferreras.  Landscape structure and asymmetrical inter-patch connectivity in a metapopulation of the endangered Iberian lynx , 2001 .

[35]  D. Bates,et al.  Linear Mixed-Effects Models using 'Eigen' and S4 , 2015 .

[36]  R. Paine,et al.  Ecological Determinism in the Competition for Space: The Robert H. MacArthur Award Lecture , 1984 .

[37]  Wolfgang Heidrich,et al.  Accelerometer-informed GPS telemetry : Reducing the trade-off between resolution and longevity , 2012 .

[38]  Chris J. Johnson,et al.  Resource Selection Functions Based on Use–Availability Data: Theoretical Motivation and Evaluation Methods , 2006 .

[39]  L. Lin,et al.  A concordance correlation coefficient to evaluate reproducibility. , 1989, Biometrics.

[40]  Philip D. McLoughlin,et al.  Overcoming radiotelemetry bias in habitat- selection studies , 1999 .

[41]  Sean A. Parks,et al.  Combining resource selection and movement behavior to predict corridors for Canada lynx at their southern range periphery , 2013 .

[42]  Mark S. Boyce,et al.  Scale for resource selection functions , 2006 .

[43]  J. Laundré,et al.  Winter hunting habitat of pumas Puma concolor in northwestern Utah and southern Idaho, USA , 2003, Wildlife Biology.

[44]  Chris J. Johnson,et al.  Maintaining or restoring connectivity of modified landscapes: evaluating the least-cost path model with multiple sources of ecological information , 2010, Landscape Ecology.