Scale-Dependence in Elk Habitat Selection for a Reintroduced Population in Wisconsin, USA.

Habitat selection is a critical aspect of a species’ ecology requiring complex decision-making that is both hierarchical and scale-dependent, since factors that influence selection may be nested or unequal across scales.
Elk (Cervus canadensis) ranged widely across diverse habitats in North America prior to European settlement and subsequent eastern extirpation. Most habitat studies have occurred within their contemporary western range, even after eastern elk reintroductions began. As habitat selection can vary by geographic location, available cover, season, and diel period, it is important to understand how a non-migratory, reintroduced population in northern Wisconsin, USA is limited by the lack of variation in topography, elevation, and vegetation.
We tested scale-dependent habitat selection on 79 adult elk from 2017–2020. We used resource selection functions across both temporal and spatial scales to understand differences in selection of topographic and environmental features.
We..., , , This README file was generated on 2023-08-30 by Jennifer Merems.
GENERAL INFORMATION

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1. Title of Dataset: Fear before food: Scale-dependence in elk habitat selection
2. Author Information:
A. Principal Investigator Contact Information Name: Timothy Van Deelen Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison: Madison, WI USA Email: [e-mail]

B. Corresponding Author Contact Information Name: Jennifer Merems Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison: Madison, WI USA Email: [e-mail]

3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): 2022-2023
4. Geographic location of data collection: Wisconsin, USA
5. Information about funding source that supported the collection of the data: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

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SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION

1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: Coordinates could not be given because location information for elk in Wisconsin is protected information. Coordinates are not needed to run the resource s...