Modeling spatiotemporal abundance and movement dynamics using an integrated spatial capture-recapture movement model.
Nathan J Hostetter1, Eric V Regehr2, Ryan R Wilson3
1Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Ecology
|May 28, 2022
Summary
This study introduces an integrated spatial capture-recapture (SCR) movement model to simultaneously estimate animal abundance and individual movement patterns. The model successfully quantified polar bear space use and density in the Chukchi Sea, linking individual behavior to population dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Ecology and Wildlife Biology
- Population Dynamics and Spatial Ecology
- Quantitative Biology and Statistical Modeling
Background:
- Animal movement is crucial for individual survival, population structure, and community dynamics.
- Existing methods for quantifying animal movement and abundance are often separate, limiting integrated understanding.
- Linking individual movement to population-level processes requires advanced spatiotemporal modeling approaches.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate an integrated spatial capture-recapture (SCR) movement model.
- To jointly estimate animal abundance, distribution, and movement patterns within a defined area.
- To apply the model to polar bear (Ursus maritimus) data for assessing individual and population space use.
Main Methods:
- Developed an integrated spatial capture-recapture (SCR) movement model incorporating bivariate normal and correlated random walk processes.
- Applied the model to capture-recapture and telemetry data from polar bears in the eastern Chukchi Sea (2015).
- Validated model performance through simulation studies for unbiased estimation of movement, abundance, and detection.
Main Results:
- The SCR-movement model accurately estimated movement, abundance, and detection parameters in simulations.
- Polar bears exhibited directional movement persistence, utilizing areas larger than the survey region.
- Estimated daily densities varied significantly with habitat (e.g., sea ice vs. nearshore), with daily abundance ranging from 53 to 69 bears.
Conclusions:
- The integrated SCR-movement model effectively quantifies individual and population-level space use, linking movement to emergent spatiotemporal densities.
- The model provides a generalizable framework for incorporating movement realism into population dynamics studies.
- This approach enhances our understanding of how landscape characteristics influence animal abundance and movement.
Related Concept Videos
00:30What are Populations and Communities?
35.1K
Overview
35.1K
01:23Mechanistic Models: Compartment Models in Individual and Population Analysis
89
Mechanistic models are utilized in individual analysis using single-source data, but imperfections arise due to data collection errors, preventing perfect prediction of observed data. The mathematical equation involves known values (Xi), observed concentrations (Ci), measurement errors (εi), model parameters (ϕj), and the related function (ƒi) for i number of values. Different least-squares metrics quantify differences between predicted and observed values. The ordinary least...
89
02:07Conservation of Declining Populations
9.8K
Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.
9.8K
02:04Conservation of Small Populations
13.7K
Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less...
13.7K