Data from: Comparison of movement strategies of three populations of white-bearded wildebeest

Citation
Stabach JA, Hughey LF, Reid RS, Worden JS, Leimgruber P, Boone RB. 2020. Data from: Comparison of movement strategies of three populations of white-bearded wildebeest. Movebank Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.h0t27719
Abstract
The ability to move is essential for animals to find mates, escape predation, and meet energy and water demands. This is especially important across grazing systems where vegetation productivity can vary drastically between seasons or years. With grasslands undergoing significant changes due to climate change and anthropogenic development, there is an urgent need to determine the relative impacts of these pressures on the movement capacity of native herbivores. To measure these impacts, we fitted 36 white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) with GPS collars across three study areas in southern Kenya (Amboseli Basin, Athi-Kaputiei Plains, and Mara) to test the relationship between movement (e.g., directional persistence, speed, home range crossing time) and gradients of vegetation productivity (i.e., NDVI) and anthropogenic disturbance. As expected, wildebeest moved the most (21.0 km day–1; CI: 18.7–23.3) across areas where movement was facilitated by low human footprint and necessitated by low vegetation productivity (Amboseli Basin). However, in areas with moderate vegetation productivity (Athi-Kaputiei Plains), wildebeest moved the least (13.3 km day–1; CI: 11.0–15.5). This deviation from expectations was largely explained by impediments to movement associated with a large human footprint. Notably, the movements of wildebeest in this area were also less directed than the other study populations, suggesting that anthropogenic disturbance (i.e., roads, fences, and the expansion of settlements) impacts the ability of wildebeest to move and access available resources. In areas with high vegetation productivity and moderate human footprint (Mara), we observed intermediate levels of daily movement (14.2 km day–1; CI: 12.3–16.1). Wildebeest across each of the study systems used grassland habitats outside of protected areas extensively, highlighting the importance of unprotected landscapes for conserving mobile species. These results provide unique insights into the interactive effects of climate and anthropogenic development on the movements of a dominant herbivore in East Africa and present a cautionary tale for the development of grazing ecosystems elsewhere.
Keywords
Connochaetes taurinus,Amboseli National Park,animal movement,animal tracking,Connochaetes taurinus,GPS logger,Kenya,Maasai Mara National Reserve,Nairobi National Park,white-bearded wildebeest
Taxa
Taxon
Connochaetes taurinus
Blue Wildebeest, blue wildebeest
Related Workflows
BibTex
@misc{001/1_h0t27719,
  title = {Data from: Comparison of movement strategies of three populations of white-bearded wildebeest},
  author = {Stabach, JA and Hughey, LF and Reid, RS and Worden, JS and Leimgruber, P and Boone, RB},
  year = {2020},
  URL = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.h0t27719},
  doi = {doi:10.5441/001/1.h0t27719},
  publisher = {Movebank data repository}
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
ID  - doi:10.5441/001/1.h0t27719
T1  - Data from: Comparison of movement strategies of three populations of white-bearded wildebeest
AU  - Stabach, Jared A.
AU  - Hughey, Lacey F.
AU  - Reid, Robin S.
AU  - Worden, Jeffrey S.
AU  - Leimgruber, Peter
AU  - Boone, Randall B.
Y1  - 2020/12/01
KW  - Connochaetes taurinus
KW  - Africa
KW  - Amboseli National Park
KW  - animal movement
KW  - animal tracking
KW  - Connochaetes taurinus
KW  - GPS logger
KW  - Kenya
KW  - Maasai Mara National Reserve
KW  - Nairobi National Park
KW  - white-bearded wildebeest
KW  - Connochaetes taurinus
PB  - Movebank data repository
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.h0t27719
DO  - doi:10.5441/001/1.h0t27719
ER  -
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