DOI: 10.5061/dryad.905qfttmt
title: On this side of the fence: Functional responses to linear landscape features shape the home range of large herbivores

description: 1. Understanding the consequences of global change for animal movement is
 a major issue for conservation and management. In particular, habitat
 fragmentation generates increased densities of linear landscape features
 that can impede movements. 2. While the influence of these features on
 animal movements has been intensively investigated, they may also play a
 key role at broader spatial scales (e.g. the home range scale) as
 resources, cover from predators/humans, corridors/barriers, or landmarks.
 How space use respond to varying densities of linear features has been
 mostly overlooked in large herbivores, in contrast to studies done on
 predators. Focusing on large herbivores should provide additional insights
 to understand how animals solve the trade-off between energy acquisition
 and mortality risk. 3. Here, we investigated the role of anthropogenic
 (roads and tracks) and natural (ridges, valley bottoms and forest edges)
 linear features on home range features in five large herbivores. We
 analysed an extensive GPS monitoring data base of 696 individuals across
 nine populations, ranging from mountain areas mostly divided by natural
 features to lowlands that were highly fragmented by anthropogenic
 features. 4. Nearly all of the linear features studied were found at the
 home range periphery, suggesting that large herbivores primarily use them
 as landmarks to delimit their home range. In contrast, for mountain
 species, ridges often occurred in the core range, probably related to
 their functional role in terms of resources and refuge. When the density
 of linear features was high, they no longer occurred predominantly at the
 home range periphery, but instead were found across much of the home
 range. We suggest that, in highly fragmented landscapes, large herbivores
 are constrained by the costs of memorising the spatial location of key
 features, and by the requirement for a minimum area to satisfy their vital
 needs. 5. These patterns were mostly consistent in both males and females
 and across species, suggesting that linear features have a preponderant
 influence on how large herbivores perceive and use the landscape.
description: Columns: - id: animal ids with month and
 year - segment: 19 segments of each individual’s
 monthly home range, where each segment is defined by the 5% contours of
 the Kernel density distribution from [0-5%] to [90-95%].
 - month: month of the home range calculation (numeric)
 - year: year of the home range calculation (numeric)
 - id2: animal ids - sex: "F" for
 female and "M" for males - road: density
 ratio for roads in the segment i - track: density ratio
 for tracks in the segment i - ridge: density ratio for
 ridges in the segment i - valleybottom: density ratio
 for valley bottoms in the segment i - forestedge_OC:
 density ratio for forest edges between open and closed habitats in the
 segment i - forestedge_treest: density ratio for forest
 edges between tree stands in the segment i - road_99:
 road density in the 99% home range - track_99: track
 density in the 99% home range - ridge_99: ridge density
 in the 99% home range - valleybottom_99: valley bottom
 density in the 99% home range -
 forestedge_OC_99: forest edge between open and closed habitats density in
 the 99% home range - forestedge_treest_99: forest edge
 between tree stands density in the 99% home range -
 road_LA: road density in the local area (circle centred on the home range
 centroid with a radius equal to the greatest width of the monthly home
 range at 95%) - track_LA: track density in the local
 area (circle centred on the home range centroid with a radius equal to the
 greatest width of the monthly home range at 95%) -
 ridge_LA: ridge density in the local area (circle centred on the home
 range centroid with a radius equal to the greatest width of the monthly
 home range at 95%) - valleybottom_LA: valley bottom
 density in the local area (circle centred on the home range centroid with
 a radius equal to the greatest width of the monthly home range at
 95%) - forestedge_OC_LA: forest edge between open and
 closed habitats density in the local area (circle centred on the home
 range centroid with a radius equal to the greatest width of the monthly
 home range at 95%) - forestedge_treest_LA: forest edge
 between tree stands density in the local area (circle centred on the home
 range centroid with a radius equal to the greatest width of the monthly
 home range at 95%) - pop: populations of studied
 animals (caroux: mouflon population of Caroux-Espinouse, auri: roe deer
 population of Aurignac, bargy: ibex population of Bargy, bauges_chamois:
 chamois population of Les Bauges, bauges_mouflon: mouflon population of
 Les Bauges, bauges_roedeer: roe deer population of Les Bauges, chize: roe
 deer population of Chizé, LPP: red deer population of La Petite Pierre,
 TF: roe deer population of Trois Fontaines)