Identifying Areas of Concentrated Use within the Home Range

Abstract

Areas receiving concentrated use by resident animals within their home range can be termed core areas, definable by comparison of the observed space-use pattern with that expected from a uniform pattern of use. A hypothetical data set is applied to radio-telemetry locations of a black bear Ursus americanus. The bear used 2 distinct core areas, which enclosed 34% of the total home range and included 76% of the animal locations. Patterns of core area use are demonstrated for male western tanagers Piranga ludoviciana. Although 90% home range boundaries overlap, core areas for 4 adjacent males closely resemble exclusive-use territories. Interspecific use of core areas of western tanagers and chipping sparrows Spizella passerina are compared. Core areas for chipping sparrows tended to be a larger proportion of the home range and intensity of core area use was greater for western tangers.-from Authors