DOI: 10.5061/dryad.ss548
title: Data from: Behavior and nutritional condition buffer a large-bodied endotherm against direct and indirect effects of climate

description: Temporal changes in net energy balance of animals strongly influence
 fitness; consequently, natural selection should favor behaviors that
 increase net energy balance by buffering individuals against negative
 effects of environmental variation. The relative importance of behavioral
 responses to climate-induced variation in costs versus supplies of energy,
 however, is uncertain, as is the degree to which such responses are
 mediated by current stores of energy. We evaluated relationships among
 behavior, nutritional condition (i.e., energetic state), and
 spatiotemporal variation in costs versus supplies of energy available to a
 large-bodied endotherm, the North American elk (Cervus elaphus), occupying
 two ecosystems with contrasting climates; 1) a temperate, montane forest;
 and 2) an arid, high-elevation desert. We hypothesized that during spring
 through autumn, behavioral responses to the energetic landscape would be
 both context-dependent (i.e., would vary as a function of the
 environmental conditions experienced by elk in the forest versus the
 desert), and state-dependent (i.e., would vary as a function of the
 energetic state of an individual). We tested several predictions derived
 from that hypothesis by combining output from a biophysical model of the
 thermal environment with data on forage quality, animal locations, and
 nutritional condition of individuals. At the population level, elk in the
 desert selected areas that reduced costs of thermoregulation over those
 that provided the highest quality forage. In the forest, however, costs
 imposed by the thermal environment were less pronounced, and elk selected
 areas that increased access to high quality forage over those that reduced
 costs of thermoregulation. At the individual level, nutritional condition
 did not influence strength of selection for low-cost areas or high quality
 forage among elk in the forest. In the desert, however, strength of
 selection for low-cost areas (but not forage quality) was state-dependent
 - individuals in the poorest condition at the end of winter showed the
 strongest selection for areas that reduced costs of thermoregulation
 during spring and summer, and also expended the least amount of energy on
 locomotion. Our results highlight the importance of understanding the
 roles of behavior and nutritional condition in buffering endotherms
 against direct and indirect effects of climate on fitness.
description: INL_Cloud_DataThis file contains categorical descriptions of cloud cover obtained from the National Weather Service for the Idaho National Laboratory Site (INL) during each day of our study, from 6 May, 2010 to 31 October, 2012.INL_Elk_Handling_DataThis file contains a variety of data obtained from each individual elk captured at the Idaho National Laboratory Site (INL) during our study.INL_GPS_DataThis file contains all of the 128,854 GPS locations used in our analyses of elk at the Idaho National Laboratory Site (INL) during 2010-2012.INL_Vertical_Cover_ShadeThis file contains vegetative cover data obtained from 200 random ground-truthing locations at the Idaho National Laboratory Site (INL).INL_WeatherStation_DataThis file contains all of the raw weather station data used to parameterize the microclimate model during our study for landscape-scale simulations at the Idaho National Laboratory Site (INL).Starkey_Cloud_DataThis file contains the categorical descriptions of cloud cover obtained from the National Weather Service for the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range (Starkey) during each day of our study, from 14 May, 2010 to 15 November, 2012.Starkey_Elk_Handling_DataThis file contains a variety of data obtained from individual elk captured at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range during our study.Starkey_GPS_DataThis file contains all of the 345,075 GPS locations used in our analyses of elk at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range (Starkey) during 2010-2012.Starkey_Vertical_CoverThis file contains vegetative cover data obtained from 200 random ground-truthing locations at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range (Starkey).Starkey_WeatherStation_DataThis file contains all of the raw weather station data used to parameterize the microclimate model during our study for landscape-scale simulations at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range (Starkey).Mass_Condition_Change_DataThis file contains all of the data and equations used to estimate weekly changes in body mass and nutritional condition (percent ingesta-free body fat) of elk during each year of our study at both study sites (Starkey and the INL).Piecewise_SAS_CodeThis file contains the SAS code and one example dataset for running the iterative piecewise regression described in the manuscript.GIS LayersThis zipped folder contains a variety of GIS layers used in our study, and is divided into two subfolders, one for the Idaho National Laboratory Site (INL) and one for the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range (Starkey).Niche Mapper InputsThis zipped folder contains the key input files for running both single-site and landscape-scale simulations in Niche Mapper for each of our study sites.ReadMeThis file contains detailed metadata that describe the contents of each individual data file associated with this paper.