cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.rj5sc2bk
title: Data from: Movements of neotropical understory passerines affected by anthropogenic forest edges in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest

description: Edge effects are suggested to have great impact on the persistence of species in fragmented landscapes. We tested edge avoidance by forest understory passerines in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest and also compared their mobility and movement patterns in contiguous and fragmented landscapes to assess whether movements would increase in the fragmented landscape. Between 2003 and 2005, 96 Chiroxiphia caudata, 38 Pyriglena leucoptera and 27 Sclerurus scansor were radio-tracked. The most strictly forest species C. caudata and S. scansor avoided forest edges, while P. leucoptera showed affinities for the edge. Both sensitive species showed larger mean step length and maximal observed daily distance in the fragmented forest versus the unfragmented forest. P. leucoptera did not show any significant difference. There were no significant differences in proportional daily home range use for any of the three species. Our results suggested that fragmentation and the consequent increase in edge areas do influence movement behavior of sensitive forest understory birds that avoided the use of edges and increased the speed and distance they covered daily. For the most restricted forest species, it would be advisable to protect larger patches of forest instead of many small or medium fragments connected by narrow corridors. However, by comparing our data with that obtained earlier, we concluded that movement behavior of resident birds differs from that of dispersing birds and might not allow to infer functional connectivity or landscape-scale sensitivity to fragmentation; a fact that should be taken into consideration when suggesting conservation strategies.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.6tn1208h
title: Data from: Post-fledging habitat selection of a Purple Heron Ardea purpurea revealed by GPS/GSM telemetry

description: The Purple Heron is a species of conservation concern in Europe, mainly threatened by the progressive degradation and reduction of wetlands. For future conservation practice, it is of pivotal importance to gather detailed knowledge of its habitat preferences. In June 2018, a nestling of Purple Heron from a sub-Alpine Lake in Northern Italy was equipped with a GPS/GSM device. Habitat selection during the post-fledging period (mid-July to mid-October) was analysed by superimposing the GPS locations to a fine-grained field-based map, discerning 14 habitat classes as well as narrow (&lt;2 m) and wide (≥2 m) ditches. The contours of the home range were defined as the 99% kernel calculated on all the gathered locations, which were successively sub selected only retaining 2,017 locations representing the position of the bird every hour and all day long. Within the home range, the habitat availability was estimated by generating 10,000 random distributions of the locations. We firstly verified whether wide ditches were more frequently used by the heron if compared to narrow ones. Eventually, we calculated the ratio between the number of true and random locations falling into the different habitat classes, obtaining a series of class-specific selection ratios. We found a significant preference towards wide ditches compared to narrow ones. Freshly renewed reedbeds and cattail beds were strongly favoured, while high-bearing sedges and Black Alder were also significantly preferred but with lower indices. All the remaining habitats, including mature reedbeds, were significantly avoided. Our results reinforce the indication that the protection of minor landscape elements as ditches and small patches of wet habitats may be of pivotal importance to foster the long-term conservation of bird communities linked to the residual wetlands of the sub-Alpine belt.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.f321pf80
title: Data from: Elliptical Time-Density model to estimate wildlife utilization distributions

description: We present a new animal space-use model (Elliptical Time-Density - ETD) that uses discrete-time tracking data collected in wildlife movement studies. The ETD model provides a trajectory-based, non-parametric approach to estimate the utilization distribution (UD) of an animal, using model parameters derived directly from the movement behavior of the species. The model builds on the theory of ‘time-geography’ whereby elliptical constraining regions are established between temporally-adjacent recorded locations. Using a Weibull speed distribution fitted for an animal's movement data, a time-density value (i.e., time per unit landscape) is determined from the expectation of all elliptical regions equal to, or greater-than, the minimum bounding ellipse for a given landscape point. We tested the ETD model using a tracking dataset for an African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and compared the resulting UDs for regularly sampled, frequently recorded locations, as well as irregular random time intervals between locations and also infrequent temporal-sampling regimes, providing insight to the method's performance with different resolution data. We compared the performance of the ETD model, the Brownian Bridge Movement Model (BBMM), the Time-Geography Density Estimator (TGDE) and the Kernel Density Estimator (KDE) by calculating omission/commission errors from the predicted space-use distribution of each model relative to the true known UD of our elephant test data. The comparison was made for the 10% to 99% percentile UD model areas. The ETD90 model (i.e., ETD model parameterized using the 90% percentile value of the Weibull speed distribution) resulted in the fewest errors of commission and omission with regards to locating the true movement path at the 99% percentile UD area. The ETD model provides an improved approach for estimating animal UDs since: i) parameters are derived directly from the tracking data rather than assumed; ii) parameter values are biologically interpretable; iii) the Weibull speed distribution is adaptable to various temporal-sampling regimes; and iv) the ETD model handles the case of degenerate ellipses thus preserving landscape connectivity in the UD. Software (freeware) for calculating the ETD and a Bayesian framework for estimating the Weibull distribution speed parameters are also introduced in the paper.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.96t76sg0
title: Data from: Study "Spain Tarragona - Long term study on migratory movement of Alpine swifts (Apus melba)"

description: For migratory birds optimal timing of the onset of reproduction is vital, especially when suitable conditions for reproduction occur only for a short while during the year. With increasing latitude the suitable period becomes shorter and we expect the organization of annual cycle to be more synchronized to the local conditions across individuals of same population. This should result in low variation of arrival and departure date in breeding sites at higher latitudes. We quantify the temporal and geographical variation in pre‐ and post‐breeding migration between individuals from four different populations of alpine swifts Tachymarptis melba along a latitudinal gradient. We tracked 215 individuals in three years with geolocators. The two western and two eastern populations showed separate migratory flyways and places of residence in Africa. Length of stay at the breeding sites was negatively correlated with latitude and differed by more than a month between populations. Duration of migration was similarly short in all populations (median 6.2 days in autumn and 8.7 days in spring). However, variation in timing of migration was unrelated to latitude and individuals everywhere arrived in the same asynchrony at the breeding site.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.3pt25757
title: Data from: Migration patterns of upland sandpipers in the western hemisphere

description: Integrated models of the ecology of migratory species require tracking of individual migratory organisms throughout the annual cycle. Here, we report the first information on the movement patterns of nine Upland Sandpipers (Bartramia longicauda) that were captured at breeding sites in Kansas and Massachusetts, and tracked with GPS and PTT tags to non-breeding sites in South America. Upland Sandpipers were extreme migrants that regularly made non-stop flights that were &gt;5,000 km in length and lasted up to 7 days. Sandpipers traveled up to 20,000 km per year in their annual movements. Our project resulted in a series of new discoveries. Sandpipers regularly crossed major ecological barriers during migration, which included long oceanic flights, high elevation mountains, and tropical forests. Migrating birds used known stopover sites in the central flyway of North America and eastern slope of the Andes in South America, and a subset of birds wintered in core non-breeding sites in the Pampas ecoregion of Uruguay and Argentina. We documented new staging sites at canefields in the mountain valleys of Colombia, grasslands in the Llanos of Venezuela, and at airports along the Atlantic Coast of the US. Unexpectedly, some sandpipers spent the non-breeding season on river islands in the Amazon basin, and pastures in the Cerrado ecoregion of Brazil; areas not previously known to host overwintering Upland Sandpipers. Like many other migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere, Upland Sandpipers had elliptical migration routes within the Southern Hemisphere, moved among separate activity areas during the non-breeding season, migrated faster during northbound than southbound migration, and spent more time at non-breeding than breeding sites. Collectively, the birds used sites across much of northern South America as a broad front migrant. Overall, the migratory patterns of Upland Sandpipers were more similar to migratory landbirds than to shorebirds that typically stage at wetlands and coastal estuaries. Upland Sandpipers should be buffered against habitat loss and degradation at local sites within their migratory range, but it may be difficult to protect specific sites or broad landscapes that would be needed to conserve a high percentage of the global population.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.303
title: Data from: Study "NC Wood Stork Tracking"

description: We tracked two wood storks (Mycteria americana) from a breeding site in North Carolina, documenting their migrations to southern Florida. This is one of the northernmost breeding grounds for the species. Dice was tracked with a GPS/GSM/ACC tag from e-obs GmbH, and Mr Lay was tracked with a GSM-GPS tag from Microwave Telemetry Inc. Duplicates and location outliers were flagged in Movebank by manually flagging visible outliers and then using filters. First, the duplicate filter was used to flag multiple records records with matching tag ID and timestamp, with a preference to retain "eobs:status" values in the following order: A, B, C, D, blank. Second, the speed filter was run using maximum plausible speed of 50 m/s and maximum location error 100 m, using the "longest consistent track" method.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.pb653nk3
title: Data from: Ámbito de hogar y actividad circadiana del ocelote (Leopardus pardalis) en la Isla de Barro Colorado, Panamá

description: Because ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) are elusive species in the wild, little is known of them. This study determines the home range and circadian activity of this feline in the Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. This island has a wet tropical rainforest. Using wooden box traps and Tomahawk traps, between July 2001 and May 2004 15 ocelots were captured, and three other ocelots in 2009. Once captured, they were sedated and VHF collars were fitted, for the ones captured in 2009 we fitted GPS collars. Camera-traps were used to get additional information from individuals without collars and a more reliable data interpretation. The average home range of ocelots, obtained by radio-telemetry was 3.48 km2 (DE: 3.17) for males and 1.48 km2 (DE: 0.65) for females, although an adult male used an area of 9 km2. Males traveled on average 1.15 km per day and females 0.7 km. Through telemetry and camera traps, we found that ocelots were primarily nocturnal (Night = 63.2%; Day = 36.8%). Our results are similar to other studies; however, they suggest that BCI ocelots have smaller home ranges due to the high availability of food and also by the high density of females within the home ranges of males.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.5g4h5t6c
title: Data from: Study "Ya Ha Tinda elk project, Banff National Park, 2001-2020 (females)"

description: (1) Migratory animals are predicted to enhance lifetime fitness by obtaining higher quality forage and/or reducing predation risk compared to non‐migratory conspecifics. Despite evidence for behavioural flexibility in other taxa, previous research on large mammals has often assumed that migratory behaviour is a fixed behavioural trait. (2) Migratory behaviour may be plastic for many species, although few studies have tested for individual‐level flexibility using long‐term monitoring of marked individuals, especially in large mammals such as ungulates. (3) We tested variability in individual migratory behaviour using a 10‐year telemetry data set of 223 adult female elk (Cervus elaphus) in the partially migratory Ya Ha Tinda population in Alberta, Canada. (4) We used net squared displacement (NSD) to classify migratory strategy for each individual elk‐year. Individuals switched between migrant and resident strategies at a mean rate of 15% per year, and migrants were more likely to switch than residents. We then tested how extrinsic (climate, elk/wolf abundance) and intrinsic (age) factors affected the probability of migrating, and, secondly, the decision to switch between migratory strategies. (5) Over 630 individual elk‐years, the probability of an individual elk migrating increased following a severe winter, in years of higher wolf abundance, and with increasing age. (6) At an individual elk level, we observed 148 switching events of 430 possible transitions in elk monitored at least 2 years. We found switching was density‐dependent, where migrants switched to a resident strategy at low elk abundance, but residents switched more to a migrant strategy at high elk abundance. Precipitation during the previous summer had a weak carryover effect, with migrants switching slightly more following wetter summers, whereas residents showed the opposite pattern. Older migrant elk rarely switched, whereas resident elk switched more frequently to migrate at older ages. (7) Our results show migratory behaviour in ungulates is an individually variable trait that can respond to intrinsic, environmental and density‐dependent forces. Different strategies had opposing responses to density‐dependent and intrinsic drivers, providing a stabilizing mechanism for the maintenance of partial migration and demographic fitness in this population.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.k4g9f2n2
title: Data from: Study "Switzerland Biel - Long term study on migratory movement of Alpine swifts (Apus melba)"

description: For migratory birds optimal timing of the onset of reproduction is vital, especially when suitable conditions for reproduction occur only for a short while during the year. With increasing latitude the suitable period becomes shorter and we expect the organization of annual cycle to be more synchronized to the local conditions across individuals of same population. This should result in low variation of arrival and departure date in breeding sites at higher latitudes. We quantify the temporal and geographical variation in pre‐ and post‐breeding migration between individuals from four different populations of alpine swifts Tachymarptis melba along a latitudinal gradient. We tracked 215 individuals in three years with geolocators. The two western and two eastern populations showed separate migratory flyways and places of residence in Africa. Length of stay at the breeding sites was negatively correlated with latitude and differed by more than a month between populations. Duration of migration was similarly short in all populations (median 6.2 days in autumn and 8.7 days in spring). However, variation in timing of migration was unrelated to latitude and individuals everywhere arrived in the same asynchrony at the breeding site.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.37r2b884
title: Data from: Wing size but not wing shape is related to migratory behavior in a soaring bird

description: NOTE: An updated and larger version of this dataset is available. See https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.f3qt46r2. ABSTRACT: Both wing size and wing shape affect the flight abilities of birds. Intra and inter-specific studies have revealed a pattern where high aspect ratio and low wing loading favour migratory behaviour. This, however, have not been studied in soaring migrants. We assessed the relationship between the wing size and shape and the characteristics of the migratory habits of the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), an obligate soaring migrant. We compared wing size and shape with migration strategy among three fully migratory, one partially migratory and one non-migratory (resident) population distributed across the American continent. We calculated the aspect ratio and wing loading using wing tracings to characterize the wing morphology. We used satellite-tracking data from the migratory populations to calculate distance, duration, speed and altitude during migration. Wing loading, but not aspect ratio, differed among the populations, segregating the resident population from the completely migratory ones. Unlike it has been reported in species using flapping flight during migration, the migratory flight parameters of turkey vultures were not related to the aspect ratio. By contrast, wing loading was related to most flight parameters. Birds with lower wing loading flew farther, faster, and higher during their longer journeys. Our results suggest that wing morphology in this soaring species enables lower-cost flight, through low wing-loading, and that differences in the relative sizes of wings may increase extra savings during migration. The possibility that wing shape is influenced by foraging as well as migratory flight is discussed. We conclude that flight efficiency may be improved through different morphological adaptations in birds with different flight mechanisms.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.2sr7mm39
title: Data from: Homing pigeons only navigate in air with intact environmental odours: a test of the olfactory activation hypothesis with GPS data loggers [full dataset]

description: A large body of evidence has shown that anosmic pigeons are impaired in their navigation. However, the role of odours in navigation is still subject to debate. While according to the olfactory navigation hypothesis homing pigeons possess a navigational map based on the distribution of environmental odours, the olfactory activation hypothesis proposes that odour perception is only needed to activate a navigational mechanism based on cues of another nature. Here we tested experimentally whether the perception of artificial odours is sufficient to allow pigeons to navigate, as expected from the olfactory activation hypothesis. We transported three groups of pigeons in air-tight containers to release sites 53 and 61 km from home in three different olfactory conditions. The Control group received natural environmental air; both the Pure Air and the Artificial Odour groups received pure air filtered through an active charcoal filter. Only the Artificial Odour group received additional puffs of artificial odours until release. We then released pigeons while recording their tracks with 1 Hz GPS data loggers. We also followed non-homing pigeons using an aerial data readout to a Cessna plane, allowing, for the first time, the tracking of non-homing homing pigeons. Within the first hour after release, the pigeons in both the Artificial Odour and the Pure Air group (receiving no environmental odours) showed impaired navigational performances at each release site. Our data provide evidence against an activation role of odours in navigation, and document that pigeons only navigate well when they perceive environmental odours.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.406327g0
title: Data from: Migratory timing, rate, routes and wintering areas of white-crested elaenia (Elaenia albiceps chilensis), a key seed disperser for Patagonian forest regeneration

description: Migratory animals often play key ecological roles within the communities they visit throughout their annual journeys. As a consequence of the links between biomes mediated by migrants, changes in one biome could affect remote areas in unpredictable ways. Migratory routes and timing of most Neotropical austral migrants, which breed at south temperate latitudes of South America and overwinter closer to or within tropical latitudes of South America, have yet to be described in detail. As a result, our understanding about how these birds provide links between South American biomes is almost non-existent. White-crested Elaenia (Elaenia albiceps chilensis) is a long-distance austral migrant that breeds in the Patagonian Forest biome and overwinters in tropical South America. Because this small flycatcher plays a key role in the regeneration of this ecosystem, our objective was to describe the annual cycle of White-crested elaenias to evaluate the degree of migratory connectivity between breeding and wintering areas and therefore to determine if there are specific biomes of northern South America linked by elaenias to Patagonian forests. Fifteen individuals were successfully tracked throughout a complete migration cycle using miniature light-level geolocators. All individuals resided and moved through the same general regions. During fall (March-April-May), elaenias were located in the Caatinga and the Atlantic Forest biomes, from Rio de Janeiro to the region near Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. During winter (June-July-Aug), birds were located further inland, within the Cerrado biome. Birds used three different routes during fall migration. Our results indicate that some individuals use a direct route, flying between 500-600 km/day, crossing desert and grasslands, while others took a detour, flying 100-200 km/day through forested areas with refueling opportunities. All birds used the Yunga forest during spring migration, with ten out 15 individuals showing a clear counterclockwise loop trajectories throughout their annual cycle. None of the elaenias passed through Amazonia, traveled to western South America or crossed the Equator. Eleanias exhibited a high migratory connectivity between breeding area in Patagonian Forests and winter areas, Atlantic Forest and Cerrado. Our results suggest that Patagonian Forests could be strongly impacted by changes in those biomes or in the Yungas.
DOI: 10.5441/001/1.ct8sk835
title: Data from: East with the night—longitudinal migration of the Orinoco Goose between Manú National Park, Peru and the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivia

description: We report on the intra-Amazonian migration of a pair of Orinoco Geese (Neochen jubata) from Manú National Park, Peru. The species is Critically Endangered in Peru, so a major aim of the study was to aid conservation planning by learning the wet season location of the country's last known breeding population. We captured a breeding pair on October 27, 2010, and fitted the birds with Microwave Telemetry, Inc. GPS/Argos satellite PTT's. The pair migrated ~655 km from Manú National Park to the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivia (Dept. of Bení) in a predominantly longitudinal migration, reaching their final destination on December 23, 2010. Major movements (&gt;5 km per time period) were almost exclusively at night and were undertaken with and without moonlight. Foraging areas used at stopovers in the Llanos de Moxos were remarkably limited, suggesting the importance of grazing lawns maintained by the geese and other herbivores, possibly including cattle. Orinoco Geese are resident in the Llanos de Moxos year-round, so the Manú geese represent a partial migration from the Bení region. We hypothesize that cavity nest limitation explains the partial migration of Orinoco Geese from the Llanos de Moxos.