Interactions between domestic and wild species has become a global problem of growing interest. Global Position Systems (GPS) allow collection of vast records of time series of animal spatial movement, but there is need for developing analytical methods to efficiently use this information to unravel species interactions. This study assesses different methods to infer interactions and their symmetry between individual animals, social groups or species. We used two data sets, (i) a simulated one of the movement of two grazing species under different interaction scenarios by-species and by-individual, and (ii) a real time series of GPS data on the movements of sheep and deer grazing a large moorland plot. Different time series transformations were applied to capture the behaviour of the data (convex hull area, kth nearest neighbour distance, distance to centre of mass, Voronoi tessellation area, distance to past position) to assess their efficiency in inferring the interactions using different techniques (cross correlation, Granger causality, network properties). The results indicate that the methods are more efficient assessing by-group interaction than by-individual interaction, and different transformations produce different outputs of the nature of the interaction. Both species maintained a consistent by-species grouping structure. The results do not provide clear evidence of inter-species interaction based on the traditional framework of niche partitioning in the guild of large herbivores. In view of the transformation-dependent results, it seems that in our experimental framework both species co-exist showing complex interactions. We provide guidelines for the use of the different transformations with respect to study aims and data quality. The study attempts to provide behavioural ecologists with tools to infer animal interactions and their symmetry based on positional data recorded by visual observation, conventional telemetry or GPS technology.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.