DOI: 10.5061/dryad.7c834db
title: Data from: Extreme site fidelity as an optimal strategy in an unpredictable and homogeneous environment

description: 1. Animal site fidelity structures space-use, population demography, and
 ultimately gene flow. Understanding the adaptive selection for site
 fidelity patterns provides a mechanistic understanding to both spatial and
 population processes. This can be achieved by linking space-use with
 environmental variability (spatial and temporal) and demographic
 parameters. However, rarely is the environmental context that drives the
 selection for site fidelity behavior fully considered. 2. We use
 ecological theory to understand whether the spatial and temporal
 variability in breeding site quality can explain the site fidelity
 behavior and demographic patterns of Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus
 minimus). We examined female site fidelity patterns across multiple
 spatial scales: proximity of consecutive year nest locations, space-use
 overlap within and across the breeding and brooding season, and fidelity
 to a breeding patch. We also examined the spatial and temporal variability
 in nest, chick, juvenile, and adult survival. 3. We found Gunnison
 sage-grouse to be site faithful to their breeding patch, area of use
 within the patch, and generally to where they nest, suggesting an `Always
 Stay' site fidelity strategy. This is an optimal evolutionary
 strategy when site quality is unpredictable. Further, we found limited
 spatial variability in survival within age groups, suggesting little
 demographic benefit to moving among patches. We suggest Gunnison
 sage-grouse site fidelity is driven by the unpredictability of predation
 in a relatively homogeneous environment, the lack of benefits and likely
 costs to moving across landscape patches and leaving known lek and
 breeding/brooding areas. 4. Space use and demography are commonly studied
 separately. More so, site fidelity patterns are rarely framed in the
 context of ecological theory, beyond questions related to the
 win-stay:lose-switch rule. To move beyond describing patterns and
 understand the adaptive selection driving species movements and their
 demographic consequences requires integrating movement, demography, and
 environmental variability in a synthetic framework. 5. Site fidelity
 theory provides a coherent framework to simultaneously investigate the
 spatial and population ecology of animal populations. Using it to frame
 ecological questions will lead to a more mechanistic understanding of
 animal movement, spatial population structuring, and meta-population
 dynamics.
description: Adult Survival
 DataAdult survival data of
 Gunnison sage-grouse setup for a "nest survival" model type in a
 mark recapture analysis. See information about Program MARK,
 http://www.phidot.org/software/mark/AdultInput.csvChick Survival DataChick survival data of Gunnison sage-grouse setup for a "nest survival" model type in a mark recapture analysis. See information about Program MARK, http://www.phidot.org/software/mark/ChickInput.csvJuvenile Survival DataJuvenile survival data of Gunnison sage-grouse setup for a "nest survival" model type in a mark recapture analysis. See information about Program MARK, http://www.phidot.org/software/mark/JuvenileInput.csvLocation data with soils and precipitationLocation information (excluding specific x-y information) of Gunnison sage-grouse and the spatial-explicit precipitation and soils information pertinent to those locations.locations_with_precip and soils.csvNest Distances between YearsDistances between consecutive and non-consecutive nesting locations of Gunnison sage-grouse. Includes information on nest success and failure.Nest_Distances.csvNest Success DataNest success data for Gunnison Sage-Grouse organized for a "nest survival" model implemented in Program MARK (http://www.phidot.org/software/mark/)NestSuccess Data.csv