What is a “Home Range?”
Many species of wildlife are territorial, meaning they have a specific area where they eat, sleep, and reproduce, which they defend from other members of the same species. This is true for species of the family Canidae, such as coyotes and foxes. These areas can be referred to as “territories,” but more often wildlife researchers will refer to one of these areas as an individual’s “home range.” To understand how we estimate the area that an animal is using as a home range, you can usually think of it as a polygon in which you would predict that 95% of an animals GPS locations will fall within that area. In the case of our study, we are using a method called “kernel density estimation” to figure out what each study animal’s home range is. To understand what this looks like, try adjusting the slider in the upper right-hand corner of the map below, which will show the path of a study animal (location anonymous) over time next to the polygon of the estimated home range.
Home ranges are a very useful tool when trying to determine what kind of habitat resources are important to an animal. We can compare the habitat in areas around a home range to those found within a home range to find out which habitats a species prefers to establish home ranges in. We can also compare the areas that an animal uses most often in their home ranges to other areas that are not used as often to tell whether there are certain kinds of habitats they like to spend most of their time in.
Territories of Study animals from the Twin Cities Coyote and Fox Project
As mentioned above, coyotes and foxes are territorial. During the mating season, these territories are usually well defined as these species prepare to mate and raise pups. This map allows you to see past mating season territories of coyotes and foxes in the Twin Cities Coyote and Fox Project. These are examples of the kinds of home range estimates we might use to determine the habitat and resource requirements of coyotes and foxes in the metropolitan area. You can see sex and idenfication number of that individual by clicking on a home range. Click on the map stack in the upper right corner if you want to see the home ranges of only a certain species.
