Mechanistic models of animal movement

Nathan Ranc

Co-supervised by Dr. Francesca Cagnacci (Fondazione Edmund Mach)

Understanding the biological processes underlying wildlife movements is critical to forecast and mitigate human-mediated impacts on individuals, and, more generally to understand the distribution and abundance of animal populations. Over the past two decades, considerable progress has been made to quantitatively characterize wildlife habitat preferences and the selection of resources. However, the movements of most animals are also spatially-constrained to a characteristic home range, and the fine-scale processes giving rise to the formation and maintenance of home ranges are not well understood. This project aims to fill this knowledge gap, and in particular, to address how the interplay between resource selection and spatial memory affects animal space-use patterns, and whether this interaction may account for home range emergence and maintenance in the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus).

Roe Deer

Animals Feeding

Roe Deer Location