Diel vertical migration (DVM) is a dynamic behavioral pattern found extensively in the world’s oceans and lakes, yet the role of food and temperature distribution on DVM is still unclear. While DVM has been mostly studied in systems with surface food maxima, deep-water food maxima are quite common in lakes and oceans. In such ecosystems, optimal conditions of temperature and food are uncoupled....

Growing pressure to develop public lands for renewable energy production places several protected species at increased risk of habitat loss. One example is the Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), a species often at the center of conflicts over public land development. For this species and others on public lands, a better understanding of their habitat needs can help minimize negative i...

August 29, 2013 Version 1.8.12 Date 2013/01/11 Title Analysis of habitat selection by animals Author Clement Calenge, contributions from Mathieu Basille, Stephane Dray and Scott Fortmann-Roe Maintainer Clement Calenge Depends R (>= 2.10.0), ade4, tkrplot, shapefiles Suggests gpclib, sp, spatstat, MASS, CircStats Description A collection of tools for the analysis ...

The concept of "ecological traps" was introduced over three decades ago. An ecological trap occurs when, by various mechanisms, low-quality (yielding low fitness) habitat is more attractive than good habitat, thus coaxing individuals to settle there despite a resultant loss of fitness. Empirical work on such traps has increased dramatically in the past decade, but the converse-avoidance of high...

If individuals occupy habitats in a way that maximizes their fitness, if they are free to occupy the habitats they choose and if fitness declines with population density, then their abundance across habitats should follow an ideal free distribution. But, if individuals are genetically related, this simple fitness-maximization mechanism breaks down. Habitat occupation should obey Hamilton's rule...

Habitat loss and degradation are causing collapses in freshwater fish the Mediterranean region, where habitat restoration actions still hampered by poor understanding of selection fitness. Here, we combined field surveys laboratorial experiments to investigate how water velocity, body size intra-specific interactions influence foraging success highly endangered Mira chub Squalius torgalensis. V...

a fish species prefer a particular habitat where provides its biological requirements, hence, understanding their habitat use and preferences are crucial for their effective management and protection. this study was conducted to assess the habitat use and selection patterns of alburnoides namaki , an endemic fish in jajroud river, namak lake basin, iran. the river was sampled at 18 equally spac...

Ideal free distribution theory predicts that increased conspecific density redistributes individuals to low-density, suboptimal habitat. However, possible lags in response to population density remain poorly documented. Snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) may exhibit density-dependent habitat selection due to its marked variation in population density. Based on 11 years (2004-2014) of snow tracki...