IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Zeller, K.A.; McGarigal, K.; Beier, P.; Crushman, S.; Vickers, T.W.; Boyxe, W.M. | |
| The importance of scale and behavioral state in puma resource selection functions | |
| 2014 Conference Proceeding | |
Puma habitat relationships are typically estimated with resource selection functions (RSFs), which are based on a paired 'used'/'available' design. Many puma RSFs use the area of the home range, or larger, for the available extent. Additionally, most RSFs use all data points for analysis, regardless of the behavioral state of an individual. We were interested in examining selection at finer scales and for different behavioral states. GPS telemetry data collected at 5-minute fix intervals from pumas in southern California were used in a paired used/available design to explore the sensitivity of RSFs to the extent, or scale, of available habitat and to the behavioral state of individuals. We examined 37 scales of available habitat, from 250m to 10,000m, and two behavioral states, resource use and movement. Across the full factorial of scales and behavioral states, we compared parameter estimates to determine the strength of selection, and model performance to assess predictive ability. RSFs were sensitive to the scale of available habitat. 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. Across behavioral states, pumas respond to grasslands, coastal oak woodlands and coastal scrub at fine scales, and urban and agriculture at coarse scales. RSFs were also 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. All models performed well, with coarser scale and multi scale models outperforming fine scale models and resource use models generally outperforming movement models. Our results indicate that multiple scales of selection and behavioral states should be examined in puma RSFs, |
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