Fractal measures of female caribou movements
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.18.5.1551Keywords:
caribou movement, caribou behaviour, fractal dimension, hierarchy, landscape, movement pathway, scale, space use, Rangifer tarandusAbstract
Understanding caribou movement during short-term searches for specific habitats, potential mates, and refugia against predators can help resolve ecological questions on how individual caribou perceive their environment. We used measures of fractal dimension and standardized pathlength to compare the movement pathways of female caribou. Satellite telemetry locations were collected over a 2-year study, March 1994 to mid-May 1996, for a caribou population in central Saskatchewan living in the southern boreal forest. Female caribou displayed more random searching behaviour during winter and more regular dispersal movements during early winter/spring and autumn periods. Females with a calf showed no difference in movement pattern (fractal dimension) relative to females without a calf but their standardized path length was shorter. We discuss the advantages of using fractal dimension as a measure of the tortuosity of movement pathways and how changes in fractal dimension over a range of scales can define domains of consistent ecological processes.Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and grant Rangifer irrevocable and non-exclusive right of publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). This means, among other things, that anyone is free to copy and distribute the content, as long as they give proper credit to the author(s) and the journal. For further information, see Creative Commons website for human readable or lawyer readable versions.