Statistical Modeling of Multidimensional Movements of Free Ranging Animals

布里林格、凯、普雷斯勒和斯图尔特9704739这项跨学科研究旨在开发基于海洋哺乳动物和陆地动物以及其他移动实体的记录轨迹的多维运动模型。一个中心目标是开发灵活的模型，能够适应各种动物群的移动、它们的种内和种间相互作用以及它们与环境的相互作用。例如，要刻画远距离穿越海洋的动物的轨迹，就需要球体上扩散过程的模型。随机微分方程式必须适应这种情况，特别是要包括协变量、非参数系数和非高斯过程。这项研究还将探索扩散过程的基本推理方面，其中许多过程还没有被研究，特别是关于动物的运动。我们将分析两个主要的数据集。其中一组包括北象海豹在北太平洋迁徙3到8个月期间的地理位置(每天确定)和潜水深度(每30到60个月确定一次)。第二个数据集包括落基山脉麋鹿和骡鹿每小时的位置，以及关于栖息地类型的地理信息。由于动物的活动是由环境的生物和物理特征决定的，这可能会随着气候的变化而变化，因此这项研究涉及国家科学基金会总框架内的环境和全球变化战略领域。将要开发的移动模型将允许对变化的时间和空间方面以及野生动物对变化的反应进行正式评估。

Brillinger, Kie, Preisler and Stewart 9704739 This interdisciplinary research is aimed toward developing multidimensional models of motion based on recorded trajectories of marine mammals and terrestrial animals among other moving entities. One central objective is the development of flexible models that can accommodate the movements of a variety of faunal taxa, their intra- and inter-specific interactions, and their interactions with the environment. Characterizing the trajectories of animals traveling great distances through the oceans for example requires models for diffusion processes on the sphere. Stochastic differential equations will have to be adapted to this situation and in particular to include covariates, nonparametric coefficients and non- Gaussian processes. Basic inferential aspects of diffusion processes, many of which are as yet unstudied particularly with respect to animal movement, will also be explored in this study. Two primary data sets will be analyzed. One consists of geographic locations (determined daily) and dive depth (determined every 30s to 60s) of northern elephant seals during their migrations of 3 to 8 months in the north Pacific. The second data set consists of hourly locations of Rocky Mountain elk and mule deer, together with geographic information on habitat types. Since animal movements are determined by biological and physical features of the environment and this may be anticipated to vary with the climate, this research relates to the Strategic Area of environment and global change within the general framework of the National Science Foundation. The movement models to be developed will allow formal assessment of temporal and spatial aspects of change and of wildlife responses to them.