Home range analysis using a mechanistic home range model

The traditional models used to characterize animal home ranges have no mech anistic basis underlying their descriptions of space use, and as a result, the analysis of animal home ranges has primarily been a descriptive endeavo r. In this paper, we characterize coyote (Canis latrans) home range pattern s using partial differential equations for expected space use that are form ally derived from underlying descriptions of individual movement behavior. To our knowledge, this is the first time that mechanistic models have been used to characterize animal home ranges. The results provide empirical supp ort for a model formulation of movement response to scent marks, and sugges t that having relocation data for individuals in adjacent groups is necessa ry to capture the spatial arrangement of home range boundaries. We then sho w how the model fits can be used to obtain predictions for individual movem ent and scent marking behavior and to predict changes in home range pattern s. More generally, our findings illustrate how mechanistic models permit th e development of a predictive theory for the relationship between movement behavior and animal spatial distribution.