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Data from: Differential effects of environmental predictability on ungulate movement behavior in disparate ecosystems

Standen, Madeline12; Ditmer, Mark34; Stoner, David5; Hersey, Kent6; Carter, Neil1

Published Sep 12, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gtht76hxg

Data files

Sep 12, 2025 version files 187 KB

Abstract

Increasing ecological perturbations resulting from global change processes are altering the environmental predictability (EP) of critical forage and water resources for wildlife. While research has furthered our understanding of how EP both underlies and directs animal movement, studies have mainly focused on relationships between EP and large-scale movement behaviors at the species level, neglecting the mediating influence that environmental context has on the behavior of wide-ranging species. We address these knowledge gaps by examining how mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) – a cosmopolitan species of the American Southwest – home range EP relates to average daily movement, focusing on two populations inhabiting disparate ecoregions in Utah, USA. We employed two separate metrics of EP, representing spatial and temporal constancy of vegetation productivity, and explored how home range (HR) area, mean forage availability, and season modulate the relationships between EP and daily relocation distance. We found spatial predictability of an individual’s HR significantly impacted daily movement during the summer and had significant interactions with HR area and forage availability. Interestingly, individuals inhabiting spatially predictable HRs moved more in seasonally resource-limited environments, and less in non-limiting environments. Temporal predictability was a significant predictor of daily movement in non-limiting seasonal environments, resulting in shorter daily movements of deer with temporally predictable HR areas. Results also indicated that as summer HR area increased, the negative impact of predictability on movement grew larger. Finally, we found a significant interaction between spatial and temporal predictability, resulting in shorter daily movement of individuals inhabiting resource-limited HRs that were spatially and temporally predictable. Interactions between HR area, forage availability, and predictability demonstrate how the EP may become a larger driver of movement decisions as habitat quality is reduced. Understanding how EP drives daily movement aids our ability to predict how global change will impact species and anticipate human-wildlife conflict.