Estimation of baboon daily travel distances by means of point sampling – the magnitude of underestimation
Estimation of baboon daily travel distances by means of point sampling – the magnitude of underestimation
复制标题
通过点采样估算狒狒每日行走距离——低估程度
作者：
Holger Sennhenn‐Reulen;Langhalima Diedhiou;Matthias Klapproth;D. Zinner
摘要日常活动距离(DTD)是动物在一天中活动的距离，是运动生态学中的一个重要指标。它提供了数据来检验与能量和行为相关的假设，例如群体规模或食物分布对DTD的影响。通过应用GPS技术对运动进行自动跟踪已经变得非常普遍，而且很容易实现。然而，由于电池续航时间的限制，有必要选择跟踪时间分辨率，这不可避免地会导致对真实基础路径距离的低估。在这里，我们给出了这种固有的系统低估陆地灵长类动物，几内亚狒狒的DTD的量化。我们发现，间隔长度从1到120 分钟的采样协议平均低估了7到35 %的DTD。对于较长的时间间隔(即，60、90、120 分钟)，偏离“真实”轨迹的相对增加没有较短的间隔明显。我们的研究提供了关于误差大小的第一个提示，在计算陆地灵长类动物的旅行费用时，这可以作为一种修正方法来估计绝对DTD。
Abstract Daily travel distance (DTD), the distance an animal moves over the course of the day, is an important metric in movement ecology. It provides data with which to test hypotheses related to energetics and behaviour, e.g. impact of group size or food distribution on DTDs. The automated tracking of movements by applying GPS technology has become widely available and easy to implement. However, due to battery duration constraints, it is necessary to select a tracking-time resolution, which inevitably introduces an underestimation of the true underlying path distance. Here we give a quantification of this inherent systematic underestimation of DTDs for a terrestrial primate, the Guinea baboon. We show that sampling protocols with interval lengths from 1 to 120 min underestimate DTDs on average by 7 to 35 %. For longer time intervals (i.e. 60, 90, 120 min), the relative increase of deviation from the “true” trajectory is less pronounced than for shorter intervals. Our study provides first hints on the magnitude of error, which can be applied as a corrective when estimating absolute DTDs in calculations on travelling costs in terrestrial primates.