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Understanding space use remains a major challenge for animal ecology, with implications for species interactions, disease spread, and conservation. Behavioural type (BT) may shape the space use of individuals within animal populations. Bolder or more aggressive individuals tend to be more exploratory and disperse further. Yet, to date we have limited knowledge on how space use other than dispersal depends on BT. To address this question we studied BT-dependent space-use patterns of sleepy lizards (Tiliqua rugosa) in southern Australia. We combined high-resolution global positioning system (GPS) tracking of 72 free-ranging lizards with repeated behavioural assays, and with a survey of the spatial distributions of their food and refuge resources. Bayesian generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) showed that lizards responded to the spatial distribution of resources at the neighbourhood scale and to the intensity of space use by other conspecifics (showing apparent conspecific avoidance). BT (especially aggressiveness) affected space use by lizards and their response to ecological and social factors, in a seasonally dependent manner. Many of these effects and interactions were stronger later in the season when food became scarce and environmental conditions got tougher. For example, refuge and food availability became more important later in the season and unaggressive lizards were more responsive to these predictors. These findings highlight a commonly overlooked source of heterogeneity in animal space use and improve our mechanistic understanding of processes leading to behaviourally driven disease dynamics and social structure.

Social relationships among animals emerge from interactions in multiple ecological and social situations. However, we seldom ask how each situation contributes to the global structure of a population, and whether different situations contribute different information about social relationships and the position of individuals within the social fabric. Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) interact socially in multiple situations, including communal roosting, joint flights, and co‐feeding. These social interactions can influence population‐level outcomes, such as disease transmission and information sharing that determine survival and response to changes. We examined the unique contribution of each social and ecological situation to the social structure of the population and individuals' positions within the overall social network using high‐resolution GPS tracking. We found that the number of individuals each vulture interacted with (degree) was best predicted by diurnal interactions—both during flights and on the ground (such as when feeding). However, the strength of social bonds, that is, the number of interactions an individual had (strength), was best predicted by interactions on the ground—both during the day (e.g., while feeding) and at night (e.g., while roosting) but not by interactions while flying. Thus, social situations differ in their impact on the relationships that individuals form. By incorporating the ecological situations in which social interactions occur we gain a more complete view of how social relationships are formed and which situations are important for different types of interactions. Social relationships among animals emerge from interactions in multiple ecological and social situations. However, we seldom ask how each situation contributes to the global structure of a population, and whether different situations contribute different information about social relationships and the position of individuals within the social fabric. By incorporating the ecological situations in which social interactions of griffon vultures occur we gain a more complete view of how social relationships are formed and which situations are important for different types of interactions.

Animals access resources such as food and shelter, and acquiring these resources has varying risks and benefits, depending on the suitability of the landscape. Some animals change their patterns of resource selection in space and time to optimize the trade‐off between risks and benefits. We examine the circadian variation in resource selection of swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor) within a human‐modified landscape, an environment of varying suitability. We used GPS data from 48 swamp wallabies to compare the use of landscape features such as woodland and scrub, housing estates, farmland, coastal areas, wetlands, waterbodies, and roads to their availability using generalized linear mixed models. We investigated which features were selected by wallabies and determined whether the distance to different landscape features changed, depending on the time of the day. During the day, wallabies were more likely to be found within or near natural landscape features such as woodlands and scrub, wetlands, and coastal vegetation, while avoiding landscape features that may be perceived as more risky (roads, housing, waterbodies, and farmland), but those features were selected more at night. Finally, we mapped our results to predict habitat suitability for swamp wallabies in human‐modified landscapes. We showed that wallabies living in a human‐modified landscape selected different landscape features during day or night. Changing circadian patterns of resource selection might enhance the persistence of species in landscapes where resources are fragmented and disturbed. We present how swamp wallabies access resources on a circadian in a human‐modified landscape, a landscape of varying suitability. We assessed the use of different landscape features to their availability by comparing 48 GPS tracked wallabies to correlated random walks. We determined whether resource selection of swamp wallabies varied during day and night, based on perceived risks (Photo credit: Cathy Cavallo).

Agricultural activities and vegetation growth cause rapid small‐scale vegetation changes which dynamically alter habitat suitability. Time series enable to track down such variations of vegetation structure and are promising to examine their impact on animals' life. Nevertheless, their potential to characterize vegetation dynamics in ways pertinent to animals' fine‐scale habitat use has not been adequately explored and ecologically meaningful proxies are lacking. To address this gap, we exemplary investigated foraging activities of breeding white storks in an agricultural landscape. Reflecting on the understanding that storks require short vegetation to access prey, we examined if good foraging conditions – early growth and post‐harvest/mowing periods – are detectable using the points between local minima/maxima in NDVI profiles (half‐maximum). We processed 1 year of Landsat imagery to identify half‐maximum periods (HM: good prey access) and non‐half‐maximum periods (non‐HM: poor prey access) on field‐scale in croplands and grasslands. Additionally, we mapped used/unused fields and retrieved foraging duration/daily visitation rates from GPS tracks of the storks. We then explored habitat use, compared habitat use with habitat availability and tested temporal predictors distinguishing between HM/non‐HM in habitat selection models. Examining habitat use, storks revisited croplands and grasslands significantly more often during HM than during non‐HM, while foraging duration was only prolonged in croplands during HM. However, comparing habitat use with habitat availability, we observed that storks used croplands and grasslands in significantly higher proportions during HM than during non‐HM. Additionally, we found that temporal information affected storks' habitat selection and improved model performance. Our findings emphasize that the half‐maximum proxy enables to coarsely distinguish temporal resource variations in storks' foraging habitats, highlighting the potential of time series for characterizing behaviorally‐relevant vegetation dynamics. Such information helps to create more species‐centered landscape scenarios in habitat models, allowing to unravel effects of small‐scale environmental changes on wildlife to ultimately guide conservation and management. Agricultural activities and vegetation phenology continuously alter habitat suitability. Time series are promising for characterizing such vegetation dynamics, but their potential to infer ecologically meaningful information remains to be tested. Knowing that white storks require short vegetation to forage, we explore if good foraging conditions ‐ early growths and post‐harvest/mowing periods ‐ can be identified by the points between local minima/maxima in NDVI profiles (half‐maximum). We process 1 year of Landsat data to distinguish good (HM) and poor (non‐HM) prey accessibility in storks' foraging habitats. Additionally, we retrieve foraging locations/duration from GPS‐tracks of breeding storks and investigate their foraging habitat use and selection. Although not all our results are significant, we find that storks favor foraging during HM over non‐HM. Hence, we propose that time series are indeed suitable for deriving ecologically relevant information on small‐scale vegetation dynamics. Such information can help creating more species‐centered landscape scenarios to ultimately guide conservation and management.

Activity patterns of predators are influenced by several factors including season and temperature as well as the availability of prey species. We investigated the activity of six free-living Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx (four males and two females without kittens) in the Bohemian Forest along the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. The lynx were tagged with GPS-collars with acceleration sensors in 2005, 2010 and 2011. Activity was measured every 5 minutes on 1,360 days (403,467 measurements) to detect circadian activity patterns. All lynx were predominantly crepuscular, with an average activity of 8.9 hours/day and with the lowest activity at midday. The activity patterns of male and female lynx did not differ significantly. With each 10°C increase in the mean air temperature per day, the lynx decreased their daily activity by 30 minutes. In winter, activity was concentrated at dusk. We also investigated whether lynx activity was influenced by the availability of freshly killed roe deer Capreolus capreolus, red deer Cervus elaphus or European hare Lepus europaeus. We compared the activity data of 357 days with a kill (109 recorded kills) and 316 days without a kill and calculated generalised additive mixed models. On days with a kill, the lynx were 3.3 hours/ day less active than on days without a kill. The activity on consecutive days with a killed prey did not differ. The pattern of activity on days with a kill differed little from the pattern of activity on days without a kill.

Weather can shape movements of animals and alter their exposure to anthropogenic threats. Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are increasingly at risk from collision with turbines used in onshore wind energy generation. In the midwestern United States, development of this energy source typically occurs in upland areas that bald eagles use only intermittently. Our objective was to determine the factors that cause wintering bald eagles to occupy riparian areas and riskier, upland areas. We tracked 20 bald eagles using telemetry in the Upper Midwest (MN, IA, MO, WI, IL, USA) during winter 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 and evaluated habitat use by eagles in response to variation in weather and time of year. Eagles used riparian areas more when wind speed and atmospheric pressure were low. Exclusive use of uplands was more frequent during weather systems with low pressure and high humidity and after long periods of cold weather. There was a non-linear response to time of year (measured by days before migration) in the frequency of exclusive use of uplands or riparian areas. Probability of exclusive use of either landscape was generally constant within 95 days prior to migration. The probability of use of riparian areas, however, was markedly less during dates >100 days before migration. Our results suggest that eagles are most likely to be exposed to wind energy developments located in upland areas during low pressure systems, after long periods of cold weather, and several months before the onset of spring migration. This information helps to better understand the factors influencing bald eagle habitat use in winter and will be useful to managers and developers wishing to establish effective strategies to avoid, minimize, and mitigate take, and to survey for mortalities at wind energy developments.

Characterising the spatiotemporal variation of animal behaviour can elucidate the way individuals interact with their environment and allocate energy. Increasing sophistication of tracking technologies paired with novel analytical approaches allows the characterisation of movement dynamics even when an individual is not directly observable. In this study, high‐resolution movement data collected via global positioning system (GPS) tracking in three dimensions were paired with topographical information and used in a Bayesian state‐space model to describe the flight modes of migrating golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in eastern North America. Our model identified five functional behavioural states, two of which were previously undescribed variations on thermal soaring. The other states comprised gliding, perching and orographic soaring. States were discriminated by movement features in the horizontal (step length and turning angle) and vertical (change in altitude) planes and by the association with ridgelines promoting wind deflection. Tracked eagles spent 2%, 31%, 38%, 9% and 20% of their daytime in directed thermal soaring, gliding, convoluted thermal soaring, perching and orographic soaring, respectively. The analysis of the relative occurrence of these flight modes highlighted yearly, seasonal, age, individual and sex differences in flight strategy and performance. Particularly, less energy‐efficient orographic soaring was more frequent in autumn, when thermals were less available. Adult birds were also better at optimising energy efficiency than subadults. Our approach represents the first example of a state‐space model for bird flight mode using altitude data in conjunction with horizontal locations and is applicable to other flying organisms where similar data are available. The ability to describe animal movements in a three‐dimensional habitat is critical to advance our understanding of the functional processes driving animals’ decisions. A plain language summary is available for this article. Plain Language Summary

Organisms aim to maximize their energy intake while minimizing the energy expended during foraging. However, as the environmental conditions vary in space and time, they have to adjust foraging strategies accordingly. The Eurasian Goshawk ( Astur gentilis ) is an iconic bird of prey widely regarded as a sentinel species of valuable old-growth forests. However, as a flexible raptor, it also thrives in other landscape types, such as agricultural and urban environments. We used GPS telemetry to track the movements of 13 male Goshawks breeding in the largest remaining temperate lowland old-growth forest in Europe, the Białowieża Forest, and examined their diet and reproductive success. We detected a variety of foraging strategies among individuals, ranging from predominantly forest-based hunting to regular excursions outside the forest to forage in farmland, villages, and towns. These behavioural responses were not consistently associated with nest site locations and consequently we found no relationship between home range size and either forest quality in the nest surroundings or proximity to alternative foraging habitats. Strikingly, several individuals breeding deep within the forest routinely travelled up to 20 km to hunt feral pigeons in a town, suggesting that the high abundance, accessibility, and predictability of optimal prey in urban environments shape the foraging behaviour of raptors even within primeval forests. We conclude that, rather than a single optimal foraging strategy, several equally profitable strategies exist for Goshawks breeding in old-growth forests.

Wildlife managers often provide spatial sanctuaries for wildlife to escape both lethal (e.g. hunting) and non‐lethal (e.g. non‐consumptive recreation) human disturbance. However, as societal interest in outdoor recreation continues to climb, many areas face added pressure to allow recreation, yet studies increasingly demonstrate negative effects of outdoor recreation on wildlife. As such, an understanding of how wildlife respond to human activities is essential to develop sustainable outdoor recreation guidelines to preserve multiple benefits for humans, while simultaneously protecting wildlife populations and fitness. We examined GPS‐marked mallard responses to three experimental disturbances meant to mimic recreation that could theoretically occur on waterfowl sanctuaries during 1 November–28 February 2019–2022. We evaluated effects on movement, space use, and site fidelity and expected that repeated disturbance would result in habituation. We further evaluated predictions of the risk–disturbance hypothesis, whereby we predicted greater behavioral responses during the hunting period and to more intense stimuli. We conducted 140 covered vehicle (e.g. truck), 40 pedestrian, and 43 uncovered vehicle (e.g. ATV) disturbances across 10 sanctuaries, exposing 195 mallards to ≥ 1 disturbance (median = 2, range = 1–12). Diurnal sanctuary use exceeded 83% of proportional use regardless of period; however, mallards only decreased sanctuary use when disturbed before the hunting period with an uncovered vehicle. Besides immediate increases in hourly movements on mornings mallards received pedestrian and uncovered vehicle disturbances, disturbed mallards displayed minimal changes in hourly movements. At the diel scale, pedestrians elicited the greatest responses; space use doubled for disturbed birds during pre‐hunt and early‐hunt periods. In contrast, vehicle disturbances decreased movement but only outside the hunting period. Repeated disturbance caused gradual declines in space use: mallards used 12% less space with each additional disturbance during hunting. Constrained behavioral responses and unchanged sanctuary fidelity after disturbance during hunting season suggests the limited availability of alternative safe areas constrained mallard responses to disturbances.

Among agents of selection that shape phenotypic traits in animals, humans can cause more rapid changes than many natural factors. Studies have focused on human selection of morphological traits, but little is known about human selection of behavioural traits. By monitoring elk (Cervus elaphus) with satellite telemetry, we tested whether individuals harvested by hunters adopted less favourable behaviours than elk that survived the hunting season. Among 45 2-year-old males, harvested elk showed bolder behaviour, including higher movement rate and increased use of open areas, compared with surviving elk that showed less conspicuous behaviour. Personality clearly drove this pattern, given that inter-individual differences in movement rate were present before the onset of the hunting season. Elk that were harvested further increased their movement rate when the probability of encountering hunters was high (close to roads, flatter terrain, during the weekend), while elk that survived decreased movements and showed avoidance of open areas. Among 77 females (2–19 y.o.), personality traits were less evident and likely confounded by learning because females decreased their movement rate with increasing age. As with males, hunters typically harvested females with bold behavioural traits. Among less-experienced elk (2–9 y.o.), females that moved faster were harvested, while elk that moved slower and avoided open areas survived. Interestingly, movement rate decreased as age increased in those females that survived, but not in those that were eventually harvested. The latter clearly showed lower plasticity and adaptability to the local environment. All females older than 9 y.o. moved more slowly, avoided open areas and survived. Selection on behavioural traits is an important but often-ignored consequence of human exploitation of wild animals. Human hunting could evoke exploitation-induced evolutionary change, which, in turn, might oppose adaptive responses to natural and sexual selection.