Behavioural flexibility in migratory behaviour in a long-lived large herbivore

The Journal of Animal Ecology
Scott L EggemanEvelyn Merrill

Abstract

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. 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. 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. 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. Over 630 individual elk-years, the probability of an...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 19, 2018·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Hall SawyerKevin L Monteith
Apr 6, 2019·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Kristin J BarkerKelly M Proffitt
Feb 25, 2020·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·B LowreyR A Garrott
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Jun 27, 2019·Ecology Letters·Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, George Wittemyer
Oct 21, 2020·Scientific Reports·Jon MorantPascual López-López
Jan 23, 2021·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Thomas A MorrisonMatthew J Kauffman
Feb 9, 2021·Ecology·Wenjing XuArthur D Middleton
Feb 26, 2021·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Nathaniel D RaylPaul C Cross
Jun 2, 2020·International Journal for Parasitology. Parasites and Wildlife·Jacalyn NormandeauEvelyn H Merrill
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Oct 23, 2021·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Marcus MichelangeliAndrew Sih
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