Beyond habitat: Memory versus environment in shaping animal space use

For nearly half a century, ecologists have sought to explain animal space use through characteristics of the environment (i.e., habitat). Recent evidence suggests animals also use memory of previous experiences to decide when and where to move. Yet, the relative influence of the two in explaining animal space use has not been resolved. Using six large ungulate species in the Rocky Mountains (USA), we evaluated the performance of a habitat selection model with 16 environmental variables and another with two variables representing previous use (i.e., memory). While memory outperformed the environment for two species and the environment outperformed memory for four species, the influence of memory and the environment was overall comparable. The environment best explained space use of specialists, while memory best explained species with strong site fidelity. Our work challenges traditional habitat selection theory, showcasing that animals build their spatial preferences through experience ..., Animal location data
We compiled GPS-collar datasets from large herbivores throughout Wyoming and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (USA). We included 211 individuals monitored for ≥3 consecutive years with ≥8 GPS locations per day from four mule deer populations, three elk (Cervus canadensis) populations, two populations each of bison (Bison bison), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), and moose (Alces alces), and one pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) population (Figure 1).
Study area
The study area was characterized by long, cold winters and short warm summers. Mean daily maximum temperatures ranged from -4 to 2° C in the winter and 20 to 29° C in the summer (1904 – 2016; https://wrcc.dri.edu). Mean annual precipitation varied widely, with low elevations (the lowest point is approximately 1300 m) receiving only 10-20 cm of precipitation per year, while the higher elevations (the highest point is approximately 4100 m) can receive approximately 10 times as much (150-250 cm; PRISM Climate Gr..., , # Data from: Beyond habitat: Memory versus environment in shaping animal space use

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8kprr4xz6](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8kprr4xz6)

## Description of the data and file structure

Provided here are the code and datasets to run the RSF analysis and create the figures and tables found in the text and supplementary materials.

### Files and variables

#### File: dryad_MemRSF.zip

**Description:** Code and data files. Data files are saved in both .csv and .rds formats.

**Data for analysis data file** (the full details of the data sources, spatial resolution, how variables were transformed, and the range of values for each can be found in the supplementary materials) :

* sp_pop_id: Unique identifier for each species and population

- species: species

* pop: population

- id: unique numeric identifier for each species and population

* date: time stamp for each GPS collar relocation adjusted to America/Denver time (with adjustments for daylight savings)

...,