Very small collars: an evaluation of telemetry location estimators for small mammals

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dc.contributor.authorHummell, Grace F.
dc.contributor.authorLi, Andrew Y.
dc.contributor.authorMullinax, Jennifer M.
dc.date.accessioned2022-10-14T14:58:00Z
dc.date.available2022-10-14T14:58:00Z
dc.date.issued2022-09-28
dc.description.abstractFine-scale tracking of animals such as Peromyscus spp. is still done with micro-very high frequency collars due to the animal’s small size and habitat usage. In most cases, tracking micro-very high frequency collars requires manual telemetry, yet throughout the literature, there is little reporting of individual telemetry methods or error reporting for small mammal spatial analyses. Unfortunately, there is even less documentation and consensus on the best programs used to calculate fine-scale animal locations from compass azimuths. In this study, we present a strategy for collecting fine-scale spatial data on Peromyscus spp. as a model species for micro-very high frequency collars and assess multiple programmatic options and issues when calculating telemetry locations. Mice were trapped from April to October 2018–2019 with Sherman traps in Howard County, Maryland, USA. Collars were placed on 61 mice, of which 31 were included in the analyses. We compared the two most cited location estimator programs in the literature, location of a signal software and Locate III, as well as the Sigloc package in program R. To assess the programmatic estimates of coordinates at a fine scale and examine programmatic impacts on different analyses, we created and compared minimum convex polygon and kernel density estimator home ranges from locations produced by each program. We found that 95% minimum convex polygon home range size significantly differed across all programs. However, we found more similarities in estimates across calculations of core home ranges. Kernel density estimator home ranges had similar patterns as the minimum convex polygon home ranges with significant differences in home range size for 95% and 50% contours. These differences likely resulted from different inclusion requirements of bearings for each program. This study highlights how different location estimator programs could change the results of a small mammal study and emphasizes the need to calculate telemetry error and meticulously document the specific inputs and settings of the location estimator.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-022-00301-2
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.13016/ehds-oouz
dc.identifier.citationHummell, G.F., Li, A.Y. & Mullinax, J.M. Very small collars: an evaluation of telemetry location estimators for small mammals. Anim Biotelemetry 10, 29 (2022).en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/29432
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherSpringer Natureen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtCollege of Agriculture & Natural Resourcesen_us
dc.relation.isAvailableAtEnvironmental Science & Technologyen_us
dc.relation.isAvailableAtDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_us
dc.relation.isAvailableAtUniversity of Maryland (College Park, MD)en_us
dc.subjectLOASen_US
dc.subjectLocate IIIen_US
dc.subjectLocation estimatorsen_US
dc.subjectHome rangeen_US
dc.subjectPeromyscus leucopusen_US
dc.subjectRadio collaren_US
dc.subjectSiglocen_US
dc.subjectSmall mammalen_US
dc.subjectTelemetryen_US
dc.subjectTriangulationen_US
dc.titleVery small collars: an evaluation of telemetry location estimators for small mammalsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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