Estimation of the maximum utilization area including home range and peripheral sites

Area of Science:

• Wildlife ecology
• Conservation biology
• Spatial ecology

Background:

• Understanding an animal's total home range, including occasional peripheral sites, is crucial for effective wildlife conservation and management.
• Previous methods for estimating maximum utilization area (MUA) using cumulative area curves are sensitive to random variations and data collection timing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a robust method for estimating maximum utilization area (MUA) that accounts for both typical and occasional utilization areas.
• To improve the reliability and reduce variability in MUA estimates compared to conventional methods.

Main Methods:

• Proposed a novel averaging method using simulation studies to estimate MUA based on asymptotic curves.
• Replicated simulations with averaged outcomes to minimize stochastic effects from location data.
• Compared the proposed averaged method with the conventional cumulative method for MUA estimation.

Main Results:

• The conventional cumulative method yielded MUA estimates with high variability, sensitive to dataset start date and sample size.
• The proposed averaged method produced robust MUA estimates, unaffected by changes in start date or total sample size.
• Averaging replicated sample sizes in the new method effectively reduced temporal stochasticity.

Conclusions:

• The new averaged method offers a stable and reliable approach for estimating maximum utilization area (MUA) in wildlife studies.
• This method enhances the accuracy of defining critical habitats for conservation and management by reducing estimation biases.
• The findings support improved spatial planning for wildlife by providing more dependable MUA data.