Data from: From steps to home range formation: species-specific movement upscaling among sympatric ungulates

Animals move to interact with the environment in order to find food resources and cover. Intrinsic characteristics affecting feeding and antipredatory strategies likely shape variation in movement patterns and home range formation between individuals, populations and species. Browsing herbivores selectively forage on patchily distributed resources in areas with more canopy cover, whereas mixed feeders and grazers feed on more open grasslands and tend to aggregate as an antipredatory strategy. We therefore predicted that at small temporal scales, browsers will show greater net displacements (i.e. typical of searching patterns) than mixed feeders or grazers; but at larger temporal scales, we expect the opposite pattern, since gregarious species will need to use larger areas to feed the whole herd. We also predicted that the feeding/antipredatory strategy will determine the behavioural responses to other environmental factors. To test this, we compared spatial movement patterns at multiple scales (from 20-min intervals to annual home ranges) of three sympatric, similar-sized, alpine ungulates which differ in their feeding/antipredatory strategy: roe deer (solitary browsers), mouflon (gregarious grazers) and chamois (intermediate feeders in smaller groups). We used location data from GPS-collared females of the three species in the French Alps. As predicted, we found that multi-scale spatial patterns depended on the feeding/antipredatory strategy. Browsers foraged within smaller range areas, searching back and forth. Mixed feeders and, especially, grazers covered larger areas, presumably to satisfy herd needs. The feeding/antipredatory strategies also determined the interspecific variability in behavioural responses to factors such as maternal status, weather, habitat type or human disturbance, supporting our hypothesis. Exploring interspecific variability, we showed how movement behaviour and home range formation vary substantially, even among species within the same guild. This mechanism might be important to maintain intra-guild multi-species associations and increase biodiversity, through contributing to niche segregation and, thus, coexistence.动物通过移动与环境产生交互，以此获取食物资源与遮蔽场所。影响取食与反捕食策略的内在特征，可能塑造了不同个体、种群及物种间的移动模式与家域（home range）形成的差异。 啃食型植食动物会在冠层覆盖度较高的区域，对斑块状分布的食物资源进行选择性觅食；而混合食性与放牧型植食动物则多取食开阔草原，且通常会集群活动以作为反捕食策略。 据此我们预测：在较小时间尺度下，啃食型植食动物的净移动距离（即典型的搜索型移动模式）将高于混合食性或放牧型植食动物；而在较大时间尺度下则会呈现相反趋势，因为群居物种需要更大的活动区域以满足整个种群的取食需求。 我们同时预测，取食/反捕食策略将决定动物对其他环境因子的行为响应。 为验证上述假设，我们对比了3种同域分布、体型相近且取食/反捕食策略各异的高山有蹄类动物的多尺度空间移动模式——时间尺度涵盖20分钟间隔至年度家域（home range）范围：狍（独居的啃食型植食动物）、摩弗伦羊（群居的放牧型植食动物）以及岩羚羊（以小群体活动的中间型食性动物）。 本研究使用了法国阿尔卑斯山区内3个物种雌性个体的GPS项圈定位数据。 正如预测所示，本研究发现多尺度空间模式确实取决于取食/反捕食策略。 啃食型植食动物的活动范围更小，且会往复穿梭进行觅食；混合食性动物，尤其是放牧型植食动物的活动覆盖范围更广，推测是为了满足种群的取食需求。 取食/反捕食策略同样决定了不同物种间对母体状态、天气、生境类型以及人类干扰等因子的行为响应差异，验证了本研究的假设。 通过探究物种间的变异，本研究揭示了即使是同一生态类群（guild）内的物种，其移动行为与家域形成模式也存在显著差异。 这一机制可能通过促进生态位分化进而实现物种共存，对维持生态类群内的多物种关联并提升生物多样性具有重要意义。