PS 1-10 - How territoriality and sociality influence movement and selection of a large carnivore

Abstract: 1. While territoriality is one of the key mechanisms influencing carnivore space use, most studies quantify resource selection in the absence of conspecific influence or, conversely, territorial structure without inference on resource selection processes. 2. We fit integrated step selection functions to the GPS data of 12 African wild dog packs in the Okavango Delta, and estimated coefficients using a conditional Poisson likelihood to include random effects. We used a hierarchical model selection process to test predictions on wild dog territoriality and sociality. Wild dog packs were collared between 2012 and 2022, and data was regularized to 3-hour trajectories. Pack demographic data was collected by researchers of Botswana Predator Conservation (BPC). 3. We found that models incorporating territorial information on conspecifics, including interactions with habitat, outperformed base environmental models when predicting wild dog pack space use. Packs selected for their neighbors’ 30-day boundary, and they selected for their own 90-day core, demonstrating a difference in both temporal and spatial scale response to their own vs. conspecific territories. 4. Pack size, experience, pup presence, and seasonality all mediated how packs responded to their neighbors, and seasonal dynamics altered the strength of residency. While less experienced packs and packs with pups avoided their neighbors’ territories, older packs and those without pups selected for their neighbors’ territories. Packs also selected for the territory of larger-sized neighbors more strongly than the territory of smaller-sized neighbors. Neither territory nor sociality influenced the movement behavior of packs. 5. Our analysis incorporated density-dependent information in a resource selection function via territorial data on conspecifics, recently shown to alter inferences on resource selection. Our study determined the social factors which mediate territorial dynamics in wild dogs, demonstrated how selection differs across and within territorial space, and tested for the impact of territoriality and sociality on movement behavior. Social structure has strong implications for how packs interact with conspecifics, and therefore how they are distributed on the landscape, which has implications for management decisions for species conservation. Future research should continue to question how inferences on space use change when considering the presence of neighbors in a territorial context.