DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Ungulate Movement Strategies and Resource Predictability in Grassland Ecosystems

这项研究试图更好地了解与有蹄类动物在不同景观中移动时的运动策略相关的潜在行为机制。动物迁徙通常是出于对资源的需求，在有蹄类动物中，一些物种(如白尾鹿)一般具有丰富而分散的资源，被认为是栖息地居民，而其他物种(如驯鹿、角马)则是迁徙的，其资源可预测地在不同季节分布在其活动范围的不同部分。然而，在资源分配在时间和空间上基本上不可预测的情况下发生的大规模、长期流动迄今几乎没有受到关注。这些运动可以被称为游牧，一个明显的例子可以在蒙古瞪羚身上观察到，它们是地球上最后一个完整的温带草原生态系统之一中最重要的野生有蹄类动物。我们将开发模拟和连接行为运动机制的计算机模型，这些机制可以基于记忆、感知线索或由环境因素触发。它探讨了在资源跨时间和空间分布的不同场景下的效率。最后，它试图综合关于资源分布和移动动物活动的经验数据，例如关于初级生产力的卫星数据和蒙古瞪羚的卫星跟踪数据。关于有蹄类动物运动驱动力的新见解将支持一般游牧和迁徙物种，特别是蒙古瞪羚的保护工作，这些物种不断移动，很难通过传统的静态保护区进行管理。

This research seeks to better understand the underlying behavioral mechanisms associated with the movement strategies of ungulates as they travel through different landscapes. Animal movements are usually motivated by a need for resources and among ungulates, some species (e.g., white-tailed deer) have generally abundant and well-dispersed resources and are considered range-residents, whereas other species (e.g., caribou, wildebeest), whose resources are predictably distributed in different parts of their range in different seasons, are migratory. However, large-scale, long-range movements that occur when resource distributions are fundamentally unpredictable in both time and space have so far received little attention. These movements could be called nomadism and one striking example can be observed in Mongolian gazelles, which are the most important wild ungulate in one of the last intact temperate grassland ecosystem on the planet. We will develop computer models that simulate and link behavioral movement mechanisms which can be either based on memory, perceptual cues or triggered by environmental factors. It explores their efficiency under different scenarios of resource distributions across time and space. Finally it tries to integrate empirical data on resource distributions as well as movements of moving animals, such as satellite data on primary productivity and satellite tracking data of Mongolian gazelles. New insights about the driving forces of ungulate movements will support conservation efforts for nomadic and migratory species in general and Mongolian gazelles specifically, which are constantly moving and difficult to manage with traditional static protected areas.