Data from: Extracting spatio-temporal patterns in animal trajectories: an ecological application of sequence analysis methods

Digital tracking technologies have considerably increased the amount and
quality of animal trajectories, enabling the study of habitat use and
habitat selection at a fine spatial and temporal scale. However, current
approaches do not yet explicitly account for a key aspect of habitat use,
namely the sequential variation in the use of different habitat features.
To overcome this limitation, we propose a tree-based approach that makes
use of sequence analysis methods, derived from molecular biology, to
explore and identify ecologically relevant sequential patterns in habitat
use by animals. We applied this approach to ecological data consisting of
simulated and real trajectories from a roe deer population (Capreolus
capreolus), expressed as ordered sequences of habitat use. We show that
our approach effectively captured spatio-temporal patterns of sequential
habitat use by roe deer. In our case study, individual sequences were
clustered according to the sequential use of the elevation gradient (first
order) and of open/closed habitats (second order). We provided evidence
for several behavioural processes, such as migration and daily alternating
habitat use. Some unexpected patterns, such as homogeneous sequences of
use of open habitat, could also be identified. Our findings advocate the
importance of dealing with the sequential nature of movement data.
Approaches based on sequence analysis methods are particularly useful and
effective since they allow exploring temporal patterns of habitat use in a
synthetic and visually captive manner. The proposed approach represents a
useful and effective way to classify individual movement behaviour across
populations and species. Ultimately, this method can be applied to explore
the temporal scale of ecological processes based on movement.