Borowik Tomasz, Kowalczyk Rafał, Ratkiewicz Mirosław, Maślanko Weronika, Duda Norbert, Żmihorski Michał
Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Stoczek 1, Białowieża, 17-230, Poland.
Faculty of Biology, University of Białystok, Ciołkowskiego 1 J, Białystok, 15-245, Poland.
Mov Ecol. 2024 Oct 9;12(1):69. doi: 10.1186/s40462-024-00508-3.
Habitat selection in animals is a hierarchal process that operates across multiple temporal and spatial scales, adapting to changes in environmental conditions, human disturbances, and predation risks. Despite its significance, previous research often oversimplifies temporal dynamics by categorizing them into broad seasonal and diel patterns, overlooking the continuous nature of temporal variability and habitat specificity.
We investigated the temporal patterns in habitat selection of moose (Alces alces) in highly heterogenous landscapes at the southwestern edge of their European range using step-selection functions. Utilizing over 700,000 GPS locations from 34 adult moose, we aimed to assess seasonal and diel patterns in their selectivity for both natural and human-related habitats.
Our findings revealed significant overall temporal variation in moose habitat selection at both seasonal and diel scales. Moose selectivity toward different habitats showed low repeatability over time, with 35% of cases displaying negative correlation between selectivity in different time windows. Diel changes were more pronounced, showing 5.6-fold difference in cumulative selectivity, compared to 1.4-fold difference in seasonal dynamics. Notably, moose exhibited lower selectivity during nighttime hours throughout the year compared to daytime hours. The study also highlighted distinct habitat selection patterns across different habitat types: natural habitats (deciduous forests, coniferous forests, wetlands) exhibited pronounced seasonal variation, while anthropogenic habitats (grasslands, arable land, roads and settlements) showed more diel variability. Moose generally avoided human-related habitats during daytime hours, but their preferences during nighttime varied depending on the habitat type and time of year.
This research advances our understanding of the complex temporal patterns in habitat selection by large herbivores and underscores the importance of considering temporal dynamics in habitat selection modelling.
动物的栖息地选择是一个层次化过程，在多个时间和空间尺度上运作，以适应环境条件、人类干扰和捕食风险的变化。尽管其具有重要意义，但以往的研究往往通过将时间动态简单地归类为宽泛的季节和昼夜模式来过度简化，而忽略了时间变异性和栖息地特异性的连续性。
我们使用步长选择函数，研究了欧洲驼鹿分布范围西南边缘高度异质景观中驼鹿（Alces alces）栖息地选择的时间模式。利用来自34只成年驼鹿的70多万个GPS定位数据，我们旨在评估它们对自然栖息地和与人类相关栖息地的季节性和昼夜选择模式。
我们的研究结果显示，驼鹿栖息地选择在季节和昼夜尺度上总体存在显著的时间变化。驼鹿对不同栖息地的选择性随时间变化的重复性较低，在不同时间窗口的选择性之间，35%的情况呈现负相关。昼夜变化更为明显，累积选择性差异为5.6倍，而季节动态差异为1.4倍。值得注意的是，与白天相比，驼鹿全年夜间的选择性较低。该研究还突出了不同栖息地类型的独特栖息地选择模式：自然栖息地（落叶林、针叶林、湿地）呈现出明显的季节性变化，而人为栖息地（草原、耕地、道路和定居点）则表现出更多的昼夜变异性。驼鹿通常在白天避开与人类相关的栖息地，但它们在夜间的偏好因栖息地类型和年份不同而有所变化。
这项研究推进了我们对大型食草动物栖息地选择复杂时间模式的理解，并强调了在栖息地选择建模中考虑时间动态的重要性。
