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What determines global positioning system fix success when monitoring free-ranging mouflon?

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Abstract

We have assessed behavioural and environmental factors influencing the success of global positioning system (GPS) fixes recorded from 15 collared free-ranging female Mediterranean mouflon (Ovis gmelini musimon x Ovis sp.). We have demonstrated that fix success was 8% lower in resting animals (0.81, 95% CI = 0.79–0.84) than in active animals (0.89, 95% CI = 0.86–0.91) at an average temperature (13.8°C), but was similar and relatively constant at lower temperatures. When temperatures increased above the average temperature, fix success strongly decreased in resting animals (0.44, 95% CI = 0.36–0.52 at 30°C) as compared to active animals (0.76, 95% CI = 0.65–0.85). These results probably involved behavioural changes in habitat use of mouflon, as temperature and activity strongly influence the use of cover in ungulates. We also found that the success of GPS fixes was influenced by habitat types, increasing from 0.76 to 0.93 (under average sky openness of 33%) along a continuum going from forested to open areas. After controlling for differences in vegetation, sky openness had a positive effect on fix success (from 0.76 to 0.97 in evergreen oak forest). Our approach based on free-ranging animals and using a robust interpolation procedure should provide biologists with a more reliable method to account for bias in GPS studies.

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Acknowledgements

All the experiments were performed in agreement with the current French laws on wildlife and animal welfare. We are grateful to the Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage (SD 34, BMI LR and DER) for their technical and data support (especially E. Marty for the field management of the study) and Y. Soubeyran for producing our vegetation map. We gratefully acknowledge the Groupement d'Intérêt Environmental et Cynégétique, the Office National des Forêts and the trainees of Fagairolles for collecting data. We would also like to thank J.-P. Gendner (CNRS, Strasbourg, France) and G. Janeau (IRGM-INRA, Toulouse, France) for differentially correcting GPS data and to B. Van Moorter for recording the activity of mouflon. We thank IN2P3 (Villeurbanne, France) for access to computer resources. We also thank O. Bantus and W. Renaud (Lotek Wireless Inc.) for technical support. We are grateful to Chantal Kirouac for the English improvement. G. Bourgoin and M. Garel were financed by the Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage and the Fédération Départementale des Chasseurs de l'Hérault.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR5558, 43 boulevard du 11 novembre 1918, 69622, Villeurbanne, France

    Gilles Bourgoin, Mathieu Garel & Jean-Michel Gaillard

  2. Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Lyon, 1 av. Bourgelat, 69280, Marcy l’Etoile, France

    Gilles Bourgoin

  3. Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, Centre National d’Étude et de Recherche Appliquée sur la Faune de Montagne, 95 rue Pierre Flourens, BP 74267, 34098, Montpellier Cedex 05, France

    Gilles Bourgoin, Mathieu Garel, Dominique Dubray & Daniel Maillard

  4. Unité Mixte de Recherche no. 5558 “Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive”, Bâtiment Grégoire Mendel, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 43 Boulevard du 11 novembre 1918, 69622, Villeurbanne Cedex, France

    Jean-Michel Gaillard

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  1. Gilles Bourgoin
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  2. Mathieu Garel
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  3. Dominique Dubray
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  4. Daniel Maillard
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  5. Jean-Michel Gaillard
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Correspondence to Jean-Michel Gaillard.

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Communicated by H. Kierdorf

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Bourgoin, G., Garel, M., Dubray, D. et al. What determines global positioning system fix success when monitoring free-ranging mouflon?. Eur J Wildl Res 55, 603–613 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-009-0284-1

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