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Within home ranges, animals repeatedly visit certain areas. Recursive movement patterns are widespread throughout the animal kingdom, but are rarely considered when developing resource selection models. We examined how behavioral state-dependent recursive movements influenced reource selection of eastern wild turkey ( Meleagris gallopavo silvestris ) broods as they aged from day 1 to 28. Because broods become more plastic in behaviors once they begin roosting off the ground, we separated data into broods that were ground roosting (1–13 days) and tree roosting (14–28 days). We used Hidden Markov Models to identify 2 behavioral states (restricted and mobile). We extracted state-specific recursive movements based on states and specific step lengths, which we integrated into a step selection analysis to evaluate resource selection. We found that in a restricted state, ground roosting broods spent less time in areas of mixed pine-hardwoods and more time in areas with greater vegetation density. Tree roosting broods revisited areas closer to shrub/scrub landcover types, and areas with greater vegetation density. Tree roosting broods also spent less time near mixed pine-hardwoods, while spending more time in areas with greater vegetation density. We found that in a mobile state, ground roosting broods revisited areas closer to secondary roads and mixed pine-hardwoods, but farther from hardwoods. Tree roosting broods revisited areas farther from secondary roads and with greater vegetation density. Tree roosting broods also spent more time in areas closer to pine. Resource selection varied depending on behavioral state and recursive movements. However, revisitation and residence time impacted selection in both ground and tree roosting broods. Our findings highlight the need to consider how behaviors can influence movement decisions and ultimately resource selection.

Little information exists on coyote (Canis latrans) space use and habitat selection in the southeastern United States and most studies conducted in the Southeast have been carried out within small study areas (e.g., ≤1,000 km2). Therefore, studying the placement, size, and habitat composition of coyote home ranges over broad geographic areas could provide relevant insights regarding how coyote populations adjust to regionally varying ecological conditions. Despite an increasing number of studies of coyote ecology, few studies have assessed the role of transiency as a life-history strategy among coyotes. During 2009-2011, we used GPS radio-telemetry to study coyote space use and habitat selection on the Albemarle Peninsula of northeastern North Carolina. We quantified space use and 2nd- and 3rd-order habitat selection for resident and transient coyotes to describe space use patterns in a predominantly agricultural landscape. The upper limit of coyote home-range size was approximately 47 km2 and coyotes exhibiting shifting patterns of space use of areas >65 km2 were transients. Transients exhibited localized space use patterns for short durations prior to establishing home ranges, which we defined as \"biding\" areas. Resident and transient coyotes demonstrated similar habitat selection, notably selection of agricultural over forested habitats. However, transients exhibited stronger selection for roads than resident coyotes. Although transient coyotes are less likely to contribute reproductively to their population, transiency may be an important life history trait that facilitates metapopulation dynamics through dispersal and the eventual replacement of breeding residents lost to mortality.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting cervids worldwide. CWD was first detected in Arkansas in 2015 and as of August 2025 has been detected in 24 counties across the state. Within the Tier 1 CWD management zone of northern Arkansas, average apparent CWD prevalence exceeded 25% at the onset of our study in 2021. We tested the hypothesis that high prevalence of CWD negatively affects white-tailed deer population viability. We collected data from 243 camera traps and deployed GPS-collars on 131 adult deer to monitor population dynamics. Using spatial mark-resight models, we estimated density of adult deer from 2021 to 2024 at three sites across a presumed CWD gradient to assess the impacts of high CWD prevalence on deer abundance. Deer densities declined at all three study sites, at an average 17% (95% CI: 8% − 24%) decline per year. Male densities declined by an average 23% (95% CI: 5% − 31%) per year compared to 15% (95% CI: 2% − 23%) yearly declines for females. These findings suggest that CWD can negatively impact deer populations through direct reductions in density, but additional research is needed to determine if additional factors contributed to these declines. Furthermore, our findings suggest the populations we studied are not sustainable under current harvest regulations.

To ensure reproductive success, Canis species establish contiguous mosaics of territories in suitable habitats to partition space and defend limiting resources. Consequently, Canis species can exert strong effects on prey populations locally because of their year-round maintenance of territories. We assessed prey use by coyotes (Canis latrans) by sampling scats from within known territories in southeastern Alabama and the Savannah River area of Georgia and South Carolina. We accounted for the size and habitat composition of coyote home ranges to investigate the influence of space use, vegetation density, and habitat type on coyote diets. Coyote use of prey was influenced by a combination of mean monthly temperature, home range size, vegetation density, and hardwood forests. For example, coyote use of adult white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was associated with cooler months and smaller home ranges, whereas use of rabbits (Sylvilagus spp.) was associated with cooler months, larger home ranges, and less vegetation density. Coyotes in our study relied primarily on nutritionally superior mammalian prey and supplemented their diet with fruit when available, as their use of mammalian prey did not appreciably decrease with increasing use of fruit. We suggest that differential use of prey by coyotes is influenced by habitat heterogeneity within their home ranges, and prey-switching behaviors may stabilize local interactions between coyotes and their food resources to permit stable year-round territories. Given that habitat composition affects coyote prey use, future studies should also incorporate effects of habitat composition on coyote distribution and abundance to further identify coyote influences on prey communities.

Recovery of large carnivores remains a challenge because complex spatial dynamics that facilitate population persistence are poorly understood. In particular, recovery of the critically endangered red wolf (Canis rufus) has been challenging because of its vulnerability to extinction via human-caused mortality and hybridization with coyotes (Canis latrans). Therefore, understanding red wolf space use and habitat selection is important to assist recovery because key aspects of wolf ecology such as interspecific competition, foraging, and habitat selection are well-known to influence population dynamics and persistence. During 2009-2011, we used global positioning system (GPS) radio-telemetry to quantify space use and 3rd-order habitat selection for resident and transient red wolves on the Albemarle Peninsula of eastern North Carolina. The Albemarle Peninsula was a predominantly agricultural landscape in which red wolves maintained spatially stable home ranges that varied between 25 km2 and 190 km2. Conversely, transient red wolves did not maintain home ranges and traversed areas between 122 km2 and 681 km2. Space use by transient red wolves was not spatially stable and exhibited shifting patterns until residency was achieved by individual wolves. Habitat selection was similar between resident and transient red wolves in which agricultural habitats were selected over forested habitats. However, transients showed stronger selection for edges and roads than resident red wolves. Behaviors of transient wolves are rarely reported in studies of space use and habitat selection because of technological limitations to observed extensive space use and because they do not contribute reproductively to populations. Transients in our study comprised displaced red wolves and younger dispersers that competed for limited space and mating opportunities. Therefore, our results suggest that transiency is likely an important life-history strategy for red wolves that facilitates metapopulation dynamics through short- and long-distance movements and eventual replacement of breeding residents lost to mortality.

Selection of habitats has regularly been suggested to influence species demography at both local and broad scales. The expectation is that selection behaviors have positive benefits via greater fitness or increased survival. The current paradigm of habitat selection theory suggests a hierarchical process, where an individual first selects where they choose to live (e.g., range) and then searches and selects locations within this range meeting life history needs. Using high‐frequency GPS data collected from reproductively active Rio Grande (n = 21) and Eastern (n = 23) wild turkeys, we evaluated a long‐standing theory for ground‐nesting galliformes, in that movements during the prenesting period are behaviorally focused on sampling available habitats to optimize the selection of nesting sites. Contrary to expectations, we found no evidence that reproductively active females engage in habitat sampling activities. Although most nest sites (>80% for both subspecies) fell within the prenesting range, the average minimum daily distance from nest sites for Rio Grande and Eastern wild turkey females was large [1636.04 m (SE = 1523.96) and 1937.42 m (SE = 1267.84), respectively] whereas the average absolute minimum distance from the nest site for both Rio Grande and Eastern wild turkey females was 166.46 m (SE = 299.34) and 235.01 m (SE = 337.90), respectively, and showed no clear temporal reduction as laying approached. Overall, predicted probability that any female movements before laying were initiated intersected with her nesting range (area used during incubation) was <0.25, indicating little evidence of habitat sampling. Our results suggest that the long‐standing assumption of hierarchical habitat selection by wild turkeys to identify nest sites may be incorrect. As such, habitat selection may not be the proximate driver of nest success and hence population‐level fitness. Rather, based on our results, we suggest that wild turkeys and other ground‐nesting species may be fairly plastic with regard to the selection of reproductive habitats, which is appropriate given the stochasticity of the environments they inhabit. Using high‐frequency GPS data from wild turkeys, we show that the long‐standing assumption of hierarchical habitat selection to identify nest sites may be incorrect. As such, habitat selection may not be the proximate driver of nest success and hence population‐level fitness. We conclude based on our results that ground nesting species may be fairly plastic with regard to the selection of reproductive habitats, which is appropriate given the stochasticity of the environments they inhabit.

Understanding habitat selection of gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) is essential to evaluate their potential response to changes in land use and predator communities. Few studies have evaluated temporal habitat selection or explicitly identified habitats used by gray foxes for diurnal refugia. We used GPS collars to obtain location data for 34 gray foxes (20 males and 14 females) from February 2014 to December 2015 to evaluate temporal (seasonal and diel) habitat selection and selection of diurnal refugia in southwestern Georgia, USA. We analyzed habitat selection at 2 levels, selection of a core area within the home range and selection of locations within the home range. Habitat selection was non-random (P < 0.001) but consistent among seasons, between day and night, and between sexes (P > 0.05). Hardwoods, human use (i.e., areas associated with regular human activity such as buildings, lawns, parking areas, etc.), and roads were selected (P < 0.05), whereas pine dominated stands were used randomly (P > 0.05). Selection of habitats for diurnal refugia did not vary seasonally or by sex (P > 0.05), with foxes selecting (P < 0.05) areas near hardwood forests, roads, agriculture, human use, pastures/food plots, and shrub scrub habitats. Gray foxes were observed on the ground while resting, and we found no evidence of gray foxes diurnally resting in trees. Our results suggest that on our study area, gray foxes are an edge species that prefer forests with a hardwood component in areas near human use and roads.

To mitigate coyote (Canis latrans) introgression in the wild red wolf (Canis rufus) genome, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Red Wolf Recovery Program used a combination of reproductive sterilization and lethal removal of coyotes to minimize hybridization and increase the endangered red wolf population. Although sterilization assisted in limiting coyote introgression to ≤4% in the wild red wolf genome, its potential negative effect on coyote and hybrid abundance and density is unknown. Using long‐term capture–mark–recapture and radio‐telemetry data collected on red wolves, coyotes, and hybrids under the USFWS Red Wolf Adaptive Management Plan implemented during 2000–2013, we explored three areas of research: (1) spatial modeling to correlate land cover characteristics with the relative probabilities of capture for red wolves, coyotes, and hybrids; (2) survival analysis of radio‐marked canids; and (3) annual population estimates for the three Canis taxa. We detected no differences in the relative probability of capture among Canis taxa. Red wolves, coyotes, and hybrids were most frequently captured in areas proximate to road networks with low canopy cover (i.e., cropland) and away from coastal bottomland forests. Annual apparent survival for red wolves and hybrids was greater than survival for coyotes; however, wolves and hybrids exhibited similar annual survival. Mortality of coyotes and hybrids was predominately attributed to deliberate take through lethal control by the USFWS biologists and harvest by hunters and trappers. We observed annual densities of coyotes ranging between 2.5 and 21.5 coyotes/1000 km2, with densities annually increasing during 2005–2013 when the red wolf population plateaued before declining after 2013. Despite the increase in coyote density, our density estimates are less than most estimates reported throughout the coyote's geographic range, and similar to those reported in areas where coyote populations are limited by extreme environments such as their northern range limits in Alaska, United States, and Canada. Our findings indicate that red wolf presence and federal management of coyotes using fertility control may have limited coyote densities in northeastern North Carolina.

In ground nesting upland birds, reproductive activities contribute to elevated predation risk, so females presumably use multiple strategies to ensure nest success. Identification of drivers reducing predation risk has primarily focused on evaluating vegetative conditions at nest sites, but behavioral decisions manifested through movements during incubation may be additional drivers of nest survival. However, our understanding of how movements during incubation impact nest survival is limited for most ground nesting birds. Using GPS data collected from female Eastern Wild Turkeys (n = 206), we evaluated nest survival as it relates to movement behaviors during incubation, including recess frequency, distance traveled during recesses, and habitat selection during recess movements. We identified 9,361 movements off nests and 6,529 recess events based on approximately 62,065 hr of incubation data, and estimated mean nest attentiveness of 84.0%. The numbers of recesses taken daily were variable across females (range: 1‒7). Nest survival modeling indicated that increased cumulative distance moved during recesses each day was the primary driver of positive daily nest survival. Our results suggest behavioral decisions are influencing trade‐offs between nest survival and adult female survival during incubation to reduce predation risk, specifically through adjustments to distances traveled during recesses. Identification of drivers reducing predation risk have primarily focused on evaluating vegetative conditions at nest sites, but behavioral decisions manifested through movements during incubation may be additional drivers of nest survival. Using GPS data collected from female Eastern wild turkeys (n = 206), and we evaluated nest survival as it relates to movement behaviors during incubation, including recess frequency, distance traveled during recesses, and habitat utilization during recess movements. Our results suggest behavioral decisions are influencing trade‐offs during incubation to reduce predation risk to nests, specifically through distance traveled during recesses.

In semi-arid environments, resources necessary for survival may be unevenly distributed across the landscape. Gould’s wild turkeys ( Meleagris gallopavo mexicana ) are spatially restricted to mountainous semi-arid areas of southwestern United States and Mexico, and information on their distribution and habitat use is limited. We described how landcover type and topographical features influenced space use and habitat selection by Gould’s wild turkeys in southeastern Arizona. We used GPS data from 51 Gould’s wild turkeys to describe resource selection during 2016–2017 in southeastern Arizona, USA. We estimated home ranges and calculated resource selection functions using distance from landcover types, slope, aspect, and elevation at used locations and random locations within individual home ranges. Gould’s wild turkeys selected areas closer to pine forest and water. Likewise, Gould’s wild turkeys selected locations with moderate elevations of 1641 ± 235 m (range = 1223–2971 m), and on north and west facing slopes with a 10° ± 8.5 (range = 0.0–67.4°) incline. Our findings suggest that conserving portions of the landscape with appropriate topography and landcover types as described above will promote habitat availability for Gould’s wild turkeys.