Multistate Ornstein-Uhlenbeck space use model reveals sex-specific partitioning of the energy landscape in a soaring bird

Master's Project (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2019Understanding animals’ home range dynamics is a frequent motivating question in movement ecology. Descriptive techniques are often applied, but these methods lack predictive ability and cannot capture effects of dynamic environmental patterns, such as weather and features of the energy landscape. Here, we develop a practical approach for statistical inference into the behavioral mechanisms underlying how habitat and the energy landscape shape animal home ranges. We validated this approach by conducting a simulation study, and applied it to a sample of 12 golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos tracked with satellite telemetry. We demonstrate that readily available software can be used to fit a multistate Ornstein-Uhlenbeck space use model to make hierarchical inference of habitat selection parameters and home range dynamics. Additionally, the underlying mathematical properties of the model allow straightforward computation of predicted space use distributions, permitting estimation of home range size and visualization of space use patterns under varying conditions. The application to golden eagles revealed effects of habitat variables that align with eagle biology. Further, we found that males and females partition their home ranges dynamically based on uplift. Specifically, changes in wind and the angle of the sun seemed to be drivers of differential space use between sexes, in particular during late breeding season when both are foraging across large parts of their home range to support nestling growth

Movement and migration ecology of Alaskan golden eagles

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2020Golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos are distributed across the Holarctic; however, in Alaska and other northern areas, many are long-distance migrants. Being soaring birds, golden eagles can use weather and features of the energy landscape to offset the energetic costs of movement and migration. In this dissertation, I investigate how dynamic energy landscapes, in addition to other habitat and anthropogenic features, affect the movement and migration ecology of Alaskan golden eagles; in most cases I did such by developing and applying new, biologically-appropriate statistical methods. First, I identified a single, discrete navigation decision that each eagle made during migration and determined which weather variables are primary factors in driving that decision. I found that wind was the primary correlate to the decision, consistent with eagles likely avoiding poor migration conditions and choosing routes based on favorable wind conditions. Second, I investigated how different forms of flight subsidies, which were orographic uplift, thermal uplift, and wind support, drove behavioral budgets and migratory pacing of eagles. I found a consistent daily rhythm in eagle behavior and migratory pace, seemingly driven by daily development of thermal uplift, with extended periods of slower-paced movements, consistent with periods of opportunistic foraging. Third, I investigated the effects of anthropogenic linear features, such as roads and railroads, on eagle movement during migration. I found that eagles selected for roads during spring migration and were more likely to be near roads when making slower-paced movements, which would be most frequent during times when limited thermal uplift is available. Lastly, I compared how floaters (breeding-age, non-territorial individuals) and territorial eagles used space and selected for resources, specifically interested in how their movements and space use might overlap. I found that floater space use was much more expansive, yet they only selected for habitats and resources slightly differently than territorial eagles. I also found their home ranges overlap substantially, suggesting that floaters play a key role in the population ecology of migratory golden eagles in Alaska.Alaska Department of Fish and Game, State Wildlife Grant Program, Calvin J. Lensink Fund, Institute of Arctic Biology, UAF Graduate SchoolChapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Local meteorological conditions reroute a migration -- Chapter 3: Dynamic-parameter movement models reveal drivers of migratory pace in a soaring bird -- Chapter 4: Novel step selection analyses on energy landscapes reveal how linear features alter migrations of soaring birds -- Chapter 5: Differential resource selection between territorial and floater golden eagles revealed with an Ornstein-Ulhenbeck space use model -- Chapter 6: Conclusion -- Appendix

Trophic redundancy and predator size class structure drive differences in kelp forest ecosystem dynamics.

Ecosystems are changing at alarming rates because of climate change and a wide variety of other anthropogenic stressors. These stressors have the potential to cause phase shifts to less productive ecosystems. A major challenge for ecologists is to identify ecosystem attributes that enhance resilience and can buffer systems from shifts to less desirable alternative states. In this study, we used the Northern Channel Islands, California, as a model kelp forest ecosystem that had been perturbed from the loss of an important sea star predator due to a sea star wasting disease. To determine the mechanisms that prevent phase shifts from productive kelp forests to less productive urchin barrens, we compared pre- and postdisease predator assemblages as predictors of purple urchin densities. We found that prior to the onset of the disease outbreak, the sunflower sea star exerted strong predation pressures and was able to suppress purple urchin populations effectively. After the disease outbreak, which functionally extirpated the sunflower star, we found that the ecosystem response-urchin and algal abundances-depended on the abundance and/or size of remaining predator species. Inside Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), the large numbers and sizes of other urchin predators suppressed purple urchin populations resulting in kelp and understory algal growth. Outside of the MPAs, where these alternative urchin predators are fished, less abundant, and smaller, urchin populations grew dramatically in the absence of sunflower stars resulting in less kelp at these locations. Our results demonstrate that protected trophic redundancy inside MPAs creates a net of stability that could limit kelp forest ecosystem phase shifts to less desirable, alternative states when perturbed. This highlights the importance of harboring diversity and managing predator guilds

Trophic redundancy and predator size class structure drive differences in kelp forest ecosystem dynamics.

Ecosystems are changing at alarming rates because of climate change and a wide variety of other anthropogenic stressors. These stressors have the potential to cause phase shifts to less productive ecosystems. A major challenge for ecologists is to identify ecosystem attributes that enhance resilience and can buffer systems from shifts to less desirable alternative states. In this study, we used the Northern Channel Islands, California, as a model kelp forest ecosystem that had been perturbed from the loss of an important sea star predator due to a sea star wasting disease. To determine the mechanisms that prevent phase shifts from productive kelp forests to less productive urchin barrens, we compared pre- and postdisease predator assemblages as predictors of purple urchin densities. We found that prior to the onset of the disease outbreak, the sunflower sea star exerted strong predation pressures and was able to suppress purple urchin populations effectively. After the disease outbreak, which functionally extirpated the sunflower star, we found that the ecosystem response-urchin and algal abundances-depended on the abundance and/or size of remaining predator species. Inside Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), the large numbers and sizes of other urchin predators suppressed purple urchin populations resulting in kelp and understory algal growth. Outside of the MPAs, where these alternative urchin predators are fished, less abundant, and smaller, urchin populations grew dramatically in the absence of sunflower stars resulting in less kelp at these locations. Our results demonstrate that protected trophic redundancy inside MPAs creates a net of stability that could limit kelp forest ecosystem phase shifts to less desirable, alternative states when perturbed. This highlights the importance of harboring diversity and managing predator guilds

Rayleigh step-selection functions and connections to continuous-time mechanistic movement models

Abstract Background The process known as ecological diffusion emerges from a first principles view of animal movement, but ecological diffusion and other partial differential equation models can be difficult to fit to data. Step-selection functions (SSFs), on the other hand, have emerged as powerful practical tools for ecologists studying the movement and habitat selection of animals. Methods SSFs typically involve comparing resources between a set of used and available points at each step in a sequence of observed positions. We use change of variables to show that ecological diffusion implies certain distributions for available steps that are more flexible than others commonly used. We then demonstrate advantages of these distributions with SSF models fit to data collected for a mountain lion in Colorado, USA. Results We show that connections between ecological diffusion and SSFs imply a Rayleigh step-length distribution and uniform turning angle distribution, which can accommodate data collected at irregular time intervals. The results of fitting an SSF model with these distributions compared to a set of commonly used distributions revealed how precision and inference can vary between the two approaches. Conclusions Our new continuous-time step-length distribution can be integrated into various forms of SSFs, making them applicable to data sets with irregular time intervals between successive animal locations