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Staying close to home: Ecological constraints on space use and range fidelity in a mountain ungulate.

ABSTRACT: Understanding patterns of animal space use and range fidelity has important implications for species and habitat conservation. For species that live in highly seasonal environments, such as mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus), spatial use patterns are expected to vary in relation to seasonal changes in environmental conditions and sex- or age-specific selection pressures. To address hypotheses about sex, age, and seasonality influence on space-use ecology, we collected GPS location data from 263 radio-collared mountain goats (males, n = 140; females, n = 123) in coastal Alaska during 2005-2016. Location data were analyzed to derive seasonal and sex-specific fixed-kernel home range estimates and to quantify the degree of seasonal range and utilization distribution overlap. Overall, we determined that home range size was smallest during winter, expanded coincident with the onset of green-up and parturition, and was largest during summer. Home range size of males and females did not differ significantly during winter, but females had larger home ranges than males during summer, a relationship that was switched during the mating season. Pairwise comparisons involving individual females across subsequent years indicated home ranges were significantly smaller during years when they gave birth to offspring. Mountain goats exhibited a strong degree of range fidelity, and 99% (n = 138) of individual animals returned to their previous year's seasonal range with an average annual Bhattacharyya's affinity utilization distribution overlap index of 68%. Similarity of seasonal home range utilization distributions varied in relation to sex and season in some respects. Home range overlap was highest during the summer vegetation growing season, particularly among females. These findings advance our understanding about how environmental variation and sex- and age-related reproductive constraints influence space use and range fidelity among alpine ungulates. Documentation of the high degree of range fidelity among mountain goats has important conservation implications in landscapes increasingly altered by anthropogenic activities.

SUBMITTER: Shakeri YN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8366887 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundClimate change is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, pushing species to shift their distribution ranges and making existing protected areas inadequate. Estimating species distribution and potential modifications under climate change are then necessary for adjusting conservation and management plans; this is especially true for endangered species. An example of this issue is the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), an endemic endangered deer from the southern Andes Range, with less than 2,000 individuals. It is distributed in fragmented populations along a 2,000 km latitudinal gradient, in Chile and Argentina. Several threats have reduced its distribution to <50% of its former range.MethodsTo estimate its potential distribution and protected areas effectiveness, we constructed a species distribution model using 2,813 huemul presence points throughout its whole distribution range, together with 19 bioclimatic layers and altitude information from Worldclim. Its current distribution was projected for years 2050 and 2070 using five different Global Climate Models estimated for scenarios representing two carbon Representative Concentration Routes (RCP)-RCP4.5 and RCP6.0.ResultsBased on current huemul habitat variables, we estimated 91,617 km2 of suitable habitat. In future scenarios of climate change, there was a loss of suitable habitat due to altitudinal and latitudinal variation. Future projections showed a decrease of 59.86-60.26% for the year 2050 and 58.57-64.34% for the year 2070 according to RCP4.5 and RCP6.0, respectively. Protected areas only covered only 36.18% of the present distribution, 38.57-34.94% for the year 2050 and 30.79-31.94% for 2070 under climate change scenarios.DiscussionModeling current and future huemul distributions should allow the establishment of priority conservation areas in which to focus efforts and funds, especially areas without official protection. In this way, we can improve management in areas heavily affected by climate change to help ensure the persistence of this deer and other species under similar circumstances worldwide.

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Staying close to home: Ecological constraints on space use and range fidelity in a mountain ungulate.

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