The simple saddlepoint approximation (SSA) uses the mean, variance, and skewness (a measure of the asymmetry of the distribution) of a data set to algebraically approximate the probability density function of a selected variable. We compared habitat-suitability bounds estimated with SSAs and continuous selection functions. Habitat-suitability bounds for bobwhite nesting based on the SSA method ...

If differences in ecological requirements result in juvenile birds using different habitats from breeding birds, then habitat management to protect those birds must protect both breeding and postbreeding habitats. We examined habitat selection by juvenile black-capped vireos (Vireo atricapilla) following their independence from parental care, in 2010–2013 on Fort Hood Military Reservation in ce...

Theories of dispersal driven by density-dependent habitat selection demonstrate that putative examples of source /sink dynamics and balanced dispersal may also be explained by a more general pattern of bi-directional, reciprocating dispersal. Analyses of 19 years of data on dispersal by white-footed mice confirm the theory. Fitness of territorial white-footed mice living in an agricultural mosa...

Multi-scale resource selection modeling is used to identify factors that limit species distributions across scales of space and time. This multi-scale nature of habitat suitability complicates the translation of inferences to single, spatial depictions of habitat required for conservation of species. We estimated resource selection functions (RSFs) across three scales for a threatened ungulate,...

Numerous ecological models evaluate how predators influence the abundance of their prey. Prey dynamics in these models often reflect a compromise between prey reproductive potential, density-dependent competition, and the direct consumption of prey by predators. But predators and prey play a complex evolutionary game where prey behavior, and its effect on distribution and abundance, depends on ...

Habitat selection studies generally assume that animals select habitat and food resources at multiple scales to maximise their fitness. However, animals sometimes prefer habitats of apparently low quality, especially when considering the costs associated with spatially heterogeneous human disturbance. We used spatial variation in human disturbance, and its consequences on lynx survival, a direc...

Animals use proximate cues to select resources that maximize individual fitness. When animals have a diverse array of available habitats, those selected could give insights into true habitat preferences. Since the construction of the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River in North Dakota, Lake Sakakawea (SAK) has become an important breeding area for federally threatened piping plovers (Charadrius ...

Success of migration in birds in part depends on habitat selection. Overall, it is still poorly known whether there is habitat selection amongst landbird migrants moving across landscapes. Europe is chiefly covered by agro-forestry mosaic landscapes, so migratory species associated to either agricultural landscapes or woodland habitats should theoretically find suitable stopover sites along mig...

Vineyards are likely to be regionally important for wildlife, but we lack biodiversity studies in this agroecosystem which is undergoing a rapid management revolution. As vine cultivation is restricted to arid and warm climatic regions, biodiversity-friendly management would promote species typical of southern biomes. Vineyards are often intensively cultivated, mostly surrounded by few natural ...