Movement decisions driving metapopulation connectivity respond to social resources in a long-lived ungulate, bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis)

The spatial availability of social resources is speculated to structure animal movement decisions, but the effects of social resources on animal movements are difficult to identify because social resources are rarely measured. Here, we assessed whether varying availability of a key social resource—access to receptive mates—produces predictable changes in movement decisions among bighorn sheep in the US state of Nevada. We compared the probability that males made long-distance ‘foray’ movements, a critical driver of connectivity, across three ecoregions with varying temporal duration of a socially mediated factor, breeding season. We used a hidden Markov model to identify foray events and then quantified the effects of social covariates on the probability of foray using a discrete choice model. We found that males engaged in forays at higher rates when the breeding season was short, suggesting that males were most responsive to the social resource when its existence was short lived. Duri..., , , # Movement decisions driving metapopulation connectivity respond to social resources in a long-lived ungulate, bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis)

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h9w0vt4rs](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h9w0vt4rs)

## Description of the data and file structure

BHS_HMM_GPS_cleaned.csv contains cleaned GPS data

BHS_HMM_sheep_covs.csv contains yearly sheep-level data

BHS_HMM_pop_covs.csv contains yearly population-level data
### Files and variables

#### File: BHS\_HMM\_sheep\_covs.csv

**Description:** yearly sheep-level data

##### Variables

* sheep: sheep ID
* ecoregion: ecoregion name
* population: population ID
* start_date: start date for yearly data
* age: yearly age (NA = unkown)

#### File: BHS\_HMM\_GPS\_cleaned.csv

**Description:** cleaned GPS data

##### Variables

* ecoregion: ecoregion name
* sheep: sheep ID
* burst: sheep ID burst split by > 36 hrs of missing GPS data 
* time: date and time
* x: x coordinate (UTM zone 11N)
* y: y coordinate (UTM zone 11N...

学界推测，社会资源的空间分布格局会塑造动物的移动决策，但由于社会资源鲜有量化手段，社会资源对动物移动的影响效应难以被精准识别。本研究以美国内华达州的大角羊（Ovis canadensis）为研究对象，探究核心社会资源——可交配配偶的可获得性——的动态变化是否会使其移动决策产生可预测的改变。我们对比了三个受社会调控的因子（繁殖季）时长存在差异的生态区内，雄性大角羊进行长距离“突击移动（foray）”（该行为是种群连通性的关键驱动因素）的概率。本研究使用隐马尔可夫模型（hidden Markov model）识别突击移动事件，随后通过离散选择模型（discrete choice model）量化社会协变量对突击移动概率的影响效应。研究结果显示，当繁殖季时长较短时，雄性大角羊的突击移动频率更高，这表明当社会资源的存续周期较短时，雄性个体对该资源的响应最为强烈。[原文截断]# 驱动集合种群（metapopulation）连通性的移动决策响应于长寿有蹄类——大角羊（Ovis canadensis）的社会资源

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h9w0vt4rs](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h9w0vt4rs)

## 数据与文件结构说明

BHS_HMM_GPS_cleaned.csv 包含经清洗处理的GPS定位数据
BHS_HMM_sheep_covs.csv 包含个体水平的年度数据
BHS_HMM_pop_covs.csv 包含种群水平的年度数据
### 文件与变量说明
#### 文件：BHS_HMM_sheep_covs.csv
**说明：** 个体水平的年度数据
##### 变量
* 羊只编号（sheep ID）
* 生态区名称（ecoregion name）
* 种群编号（population ID）
* 数据起始日期（start_date：年度数据的起始时间）
* 年度年龄（age：NA = 未知）
#### 文件：BHS_HMM_GPS_cleaned.csv
**说明：** 经清洗处理的GPS定位数据
##### 变量
* 生态区名称（ecoregion name）
* 羊只编号（sheep ID）
* 分段ID（burst：以超过36小时的GPS数据缺失为间隔拆分的羊只ID分段）
* 日期与时间（time）
* X坐标（x：UTM 11N投影带）
* Y坐标（y：UTM 11N投影带……）