A new approach to geostatistical synthesis of historical records reveals capuchin spatial responses to climate and demographic change

Recent proliferation of GPS technology has transformed animal movement research. Yet, time‐series data from this recent technology rarely span beyond a decade, constraining longitudinal research. Long‐term field sites hold valuable historic animal location records, including hand‐drawn maps and sema...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology letters 2024-05, Vol.27 (5), p.e14443-n/a
Main Authors: Jacobson, Odd T., Barrett, Brendan J., Perry, Susan E., Finerty, Genevieve E., Tiedeman, Kate M., Crofoot, Margaret C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Archives & records
Cebus - physiology
Cebus imitator
Climate Change
Costa Rica
Demographics
Demography
El Niño southern oscillation
Geographic Information Systems
georeferencing
Geostatistics
Home range
Homing Behavior
longitudinal
movement ecology
natural history
Population Dynamics
primatology
Sleep
Workflow
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Summary:Recent proliferation of GPS technology has transformed animal movement research. Yet, time‐series data from this recent technology rarely span beyond a decade, constraining longitudinal research. Long‐term field sites hold valuable historic animal location records, including hand‐drawn maps and semantic descriptions. Here, we introduce a generalised workflow for converting such records into reliable location data to estimate home ranges, using 30 years of sleep‐site data from 11 white‐faced capuchin (Cebus imitator) groups in Costa Rica. Our findings illustrate that historic sleep locations can reliably recover home range size and geometry. We showcase the opportunity our approach presents to resolve open questions that can only be addressed with very long‐term data, examining how home ranges are affected by climate cycles and demographic change. We urge researchers to translate historical records into usable movement data before this knowledge is lost; it is essential to understanding how animals are responding to our changing world. Historical data can enrich animal movement studies but are often overlooked due to doubts about their utility. We introduce a generalised workflow to convert these records into reliable location data for use in contemporary movement modelling frameworks, revealing novel insights that may otherwise remain undiscovered. We urge researchers to translate historical location records into usable movement data before this knowledge is lost; it is essential to understanding how animals are responding to our changing world.
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/ele.14443