Journal
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE
Volume 9, Issue 74, Pages 2332-2340Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2012.0059
Keywords
Levy walk; Brownian motion; multi-scaled random walk; animal space use; statistical mechanics
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Funding
- AREAL
- Research Council of Norway [179370/I10]
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo
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Animals moving under the influence of spatio-temporal scaling and long-term memory generate a kind of space-use pattern that has proved difficult to model within a coherent theoretical framework. An extended kind of statistical mechanics is needed, accounting for both the effects of spatial memory and scale-free space use, and put into a context of ecological conditions. Simulations illustrating the distinction between scale-specific and scale-free locomotion are presented. The results show how observational scale (time lag between relocations of an individual) may critically influence the interpretation of the underlying process. In this respect, a novel protocol is proposed as a method to distinguish between some main movement classes. For example, the 'power law in disguise' paradox-from a composite Brownian motion consisting of a superposition of independent movement processes at different scales-may be resolved by shifting the focus from pattern analysis at one particular temporal resolution towards a more process-oriented approach involving several scales of observation. A more explicit consideration of system complexity within a statistical mechanical framework, supplementing the more traditional mechanistic modelling approach, is advocated.
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