Data from: Mechanistic home range capture–recapture models for the estimation of population density and landscape connectivity

Spatial capture–recapture models (SCRs) provide an integrative statistical
tool for analyzing animal movement and population patterns. Although
incorporating home range formation with a theoretical basis of animal
movement into SCRs can improve the prediction of animal space use in a
heterogeneous landscape, this approach is challenging owing to the
sparseness of recapture events. In this study, we developed an
advection–diffusion capture–recapture model (ADCR), which is an extension
of SCRs incorporating home range formation with advection–diffusion
formalism, providing a new framework to estimate population density and
landscape permeability. we tested the unbiasedness of the estimator using
simulated capture–recapture data generated by a step selection function.
We also compared accuracy of population density estimates and home range
shapes with those from an SCR incorporating the least-cost path. In
addition, ADCR was applied to real dataset of Asiatic black bear in Japan
to demonstrate the capacity of the ADCR to detect geographical barriers
that constrain animal movements. Population density, permeability, and
home range estimates of ADCR were unbiased over randomly determined sets
of true parameters. Although the accuracy of density estimates by ADCR was
nearly identical to those of existing models, the home range shape could
be predicted more accurately by ADCR than by an SCR incorporating the
least-cost path. For the application to bear dataset, ADCR could detect
the effect of water body as a barrier of movement which is consistent with
previous population genetic studies. ADCR provides unique opportunities to
elucidate both individual- and population-level ecological processes from
capture–recapture data. By offering a formal link with step selection
functions to estimate animal movement, it is suitable for simultaneously
modeling with capture–recapture data and animal movement data. This study
provides a basis for studies of the interplay between animal movement
processes and population patterns.