Are trapping data suited for home-range estimation?

Modern home-range estimation typically relies on data derived from
expensive radio- or GPS-tracking. Although trapping represents a low-cost
alternative to telemetry, there lacks an evaluation of the performance of
home-range estimators on trap-derived data. Using simulated data, we
evaluate three variables reflecting the key trade-offs ecologists face
when designing a trapping study: 1) the number of observations obtained
per individual, 2) the trap density, and 3) the proportion of the home
range falling inside the trapping area. We compare the performance of five
home-range estimators (MCP, LoCoH, KDE, AKDE, bicubic interpolation). We
further explore the potential benefits of combining these estimators with
asymptotic models, which leverage the saturating behavior of changes in
the estimated home-range area as the number of observations increases to
improve accuracy, as well as different data ordering procedures. We then
quantified the bias in home-range size under the different scenarios
investigated. The number of observations and the proportion of the home
range within the trapping grid were the most important predictors of the
accuracy and the precision of home-range estimates. The use of asymptotic
models helped obtain accurate estimates at smaller sample sizes, while
distance-ordering improved the precision and asymptotic consistency of
estimates. While AKDE was the best-performing estimator under most
conditions evaluated, bicubic interpolation was a viable alternative under
common real-world conditions of low trap density and area covered. A case
study using empirical data from white-tailed deer in Florida and another
from jaguars in Belize demonstrated support for the findings of our
simulation results. Although researchers with trap data often overlook
home-range estimation, our results indicate that these data have the
capacity to yield accurate estimates of home-range size. Trapping data can
therefore lower the economic costs of home-range analysis, potentially
enlarging the span of species, researchers and questions studied in
ecology and conservation.