The habitat occupied by animals during their normal activities is referred to as their home
range. This physical space contains limited resources that are necessary for reproduction and
survival. Using spatial analysis techniques, we studied the habitat use of adult plateau pikas
(Ochotona curzoniae) based on their home ranges and burrow locations on the Tibetan plateau.
This was done for pikas exclusively within their own families, which is referred to as the family
data, and also for individuals without taking their families into account, which is referred to as
the individual data. We used spatial models to identify the microhabitat characteristics that
influenced pika activity and to measure the spatial autocorrelation between the areas of home
range overlap. We hypothesized that edges between microhabitats are most beneficial to pikas
because there is access to food and cover from predators available. The edges between sedge and
black sand microhabitats had a small effect on the level of pika activity for the family data. The
edges between sedge and black sand, and the edge between sedge and small depressions, both
had a large effect on the level of pika activity for the individual data. The burrows, which pikas
can use to hide from predators, had a small effect on the level of pika activity for the individual
data and a trivial effect for the family data. We found that the amount of sedge, which pikas feed
on, had a trivial effect on pika activity for both the individual and family data. It seems that the
edges, which provide a combination of food and cover from predators, had a larger effect than
food, as sedge, and cover, as burrows, did individually. Neither the individual nor family data
were significantly influenced by spatial autocorrelation
