Movement Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Consistent individual differences in foraging movement tactics drive habitat partitioning in an inland-breeding Great Cormorant population.","authors":"Bálint Preiszner, Péter Szinai, Gyula Kovács","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00682-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00682-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Individual variation in animal movement and habitat selection is increasingly recognised as a structurally important component of population ecology, yet the magnitude and temporal consistency of foraging movement specialisation remain poorly characterised in inland-breeding waterbirds. Inland populations of Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) exploit a mosaic of freshwater habitat types in anthropogenic landscapes and generate recurrent conflict with fisheries. Whether individuals consistently differ in foraging movement tactics across habitat types and seasons has not been established.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We deployed solar-powered GPS transmitters on 24 Great Cormorants (5 adults, 19 fledglings) from an inland-breeding colony at Lake Balaton, Central Europe, between 2021 and 2023 (mean deployment duration: 190 days). Across six freshwater habitat types (fishponds, rivers, lakes, wetlands, regulated water bodies, river arms/oxbow lakes), we recorded 249,097 daytime fixes and 20,678 speed-classified foraging locations. Individual variation in seasonal foraging habitat use profiles was quantified using PERMANOVA and ANOSIM on Bray-Curtis dissimilarities; temporal consistency was estimated as adjusted repeatability via linear mixed models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Individual identity accounted for 73.6% of total variation in seasonal habitat use profiles (PERMANOVA, p < 0.0001), and between-individual dissimilarities significantly exceeded within-individual dissimilarities (ANOSIM R = 0.511, p < 0.0001). Age class explained a negligible fraction of variation (R² = 0.012, p = 0.887). Principal coordinates analysis revealed a structured partition of individual movement space along three largely independent axes - fishpond, river and lake use (r² = 0.957, 0.949, 0.803; all p < 0.001) - jointly accounting for 74.8% of total individual-level variation. Habitat use was significantly repeatable across seasons for four of six habitat types: river (R = 0.722), fishpond (R = 0.642), regulated water body (R = 0.592) and lake (R = 0.575; all p < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Inland-breeding Great Cormorants show strong, temporally stable individual differences in foraging movement tactics across seasons, with distinct subsets of individuals consistently targeting fishponds, rivers or lakes - each to the near-exclusion of the others. Habitat partitioning in this population emerges from consistent individual movement decisions, not ontogenetic niche shifts or opportunistic habitat switching. Population-level management will produce disproportionate, habitat-sector-specific outcomes; habitat-explicit, individually targeted approaches are likely to prove more effective in mitigating cormorant-fishery conflicts in inland landscapes.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13673635/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148551443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Avoidance dynamics in tiger-leopard coexistence: a time-geographic approach.","authors":"Yifei Liu, Somayeh Dodge, Achara Simcharoen, James L D Smith, Sean C Ahearn","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00681-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00681-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Large carnivores often share space yet face strong interference risks, raising a key question: when co-occurrence is observed, is their interaction intentional (attraction or avoidance) or incidental (random encounters)? Most overlap metrics blur this distinction and miss lagged or indirect interactions that may structure coexistence. We present a time-geographic framework to determine whether interactions are intentional or random, and at what temporal scales they occur, using a case study of tigers (Panthera tigris) and leopards (Panthera pardus) in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand. Using rich long-term GPS tracking data from six tigers and five leopards with overlapping home ranges collected between 2017 and 2021, yielding 17 tiger-leopard dyads, we quantify interaction frequency and duration across sequential temporal partitions and test intentionality using a null model of correlated random walks. This approach reveals the dynamics of co-existence and competition between the two species. We further analyze these dynamics at the dyad level and in relation to prey distribution to assess how mapped large-bodied prey context mediates interspecific competition. Our results indicate that temporal staggering around prey patches, rather than pure spatial segregation, underpins tiger-leopard coexistence. Specifically, the analysis reveals two broader recurring interaction patterns: stable coexistence and home range shift competition, together with one rare high-conflict case. This framework separates intentional from incidental overlap, linking interaction regimes to prey landscapes and life history in multi-predator systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13673898/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148537174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Linkages among foraging movements, prey provisioning, and reproduction in a central place foraging seabird.","authors":"Aliya Caldwell, Elizabeth Craig, Nathan T Hermann, Nathan B Furey","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00675-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00675-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>A seabird's ability to efficiently find prey directly affects reproduction, and seabird population declines are frequently linked to forage fish depletion. Reduced forage fish availability often limits seabird egg production and chick provisioning, but impacts to foraging movements remain largely unresolved, as does the effect of movement flexibility on provisioning and reproduction in conditions of reduced forage fish availability.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study assesses drivers of foraging movement and the role of foraging movement in mediating provisioning and reproduction in a central place foraging seabird, the common tern (Sterna hirundo), by integrating movement (GPS telemetry), chick provisioning, and reproductive productivity data. Data were collected across four breeding seasons (2021-2024) on the largest common tern colony in the Gulf of Maine, where ocean warming is precipitating shifts in forage fish populations.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In poor prey and productivity years, when clutch size (eggs per nest), fledging success, and provisioning of preferred prey (herrings [Clupea harengus, Alosa spp.], hakes/rockling [Merluccius bilinearis, Urophycis spp., Enchelyopus cimbrius], sand lances [Ammodytes spp.]) were reduced, common terns increased foraging trip durations by 23%-87% and expanded foraging ranges by 17%-51%. Range expansions occurred regardless of sex or breeding status and were driven by increased use of distant waters (up to ~150 km from the colony) rich in forage fishes preferred by common terns. In years of increased reproductive success and high preferred prey provisioning, foraging movements were shorter, and foraging locations focused on waters immediately surrounding the colony (within ~10 km), as well as two nearby river mouths (Piscataqua River and Merrimack River).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results suggest that common tern foraging movements are flexible in response to forage fish availability, but that increased movement effort in years of reduced prey availability may be insufficient to maintain chick diet and survival. In regions like the Gulf of Maine, where ocean-warming continues to induce shifts in forage fish populations, additional protection may be critical to central place foraging seabirds. Without proactive management, breeding seasons marked by increased foraging movement effort with little resulting reproductive success may become increasingly frequent.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13371458/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148457327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Contrasting patterns of population structure and breeding dispersal exhibited between sister taxa in a small river system: new insights from population genetics and sibling analysis on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta).","authors":"Thibaut P Dugay, Philip McGinnity, W Russell Poole, Thomas E Reed, Joshka Kaufmann","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00678-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00678-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The movement of individuals from one breeding site to another (i.e. breeding dispersal) can have important consequences for fitness and population genetics. Whilst closely related species are expected to be phenotypically similar in many respects, they can nevertheless exhibit important differences in behaviour and ecology that can have repercussions for population structure.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Here we use genetic information (microsatellite data) collected on two sister species - Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) - that overlap in their spawning and freshwater rearing habitats within a small (ca. 100 km²) catchment in western Ireland. We first explore differences in the spatial extent of within-season breeding dispersal. To do so, we combine sibship reconstruction analysis with distances between siblings' sampling locations and introduce the ratio of half-sibling to full-sibling pair distances as a novel proxy measure for breeding dispersal (I_BD). We then use a range of population genetic analyses to assess the genetic structure of both species.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The I_BD value was 1.8 times higher in Atlantic salmon than in brown trout, and distances between breeding sites were much greater in salmon (typically within 4 kilometres) than in trout (typically within 600 metres). No genetic structure was detected in Atlantic salmon. In contrast, fine-scale genetic structuring was observed in the brown trout data with at least two genetic clusters being detected, confirming similar patterns reported in previous studies.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results support the hypothesis that Atlantic salmon engage in more spatially extensive breeding dispersal behaviour than brown trout, which in turn may explain why trout but not salmon exhibit population genetic structure in this system. Collectively, our findings showcase how the same genetic data can be used to gain complementary insights into the movement behaviours of individuals and the genetic structuring of populations, with implications for conservation management. They furthermore emphasise a hitherto overlooked role for intra-seasonal breeding dispersal in shaping spatial genetic connectivity in polygamous species.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13656381/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148438929","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temporal dynamics of plant movement under task constraints.","authors":"Silvia Guerra, Valentina Simonetti, Emanuele Cannizzo, Umberto Castiello","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00680-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00680-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Movement time (MT) reflects how organisms adjust their movements to environmental constraints. In climbing plants, successful attachment to external supports depends on the temporal organization of their exploratory movements (i.e., circumnutation). Yet it remains unclear whether MT in plants varies as a function of different support properties such as its distance and width, and how multiple constraints jointly shape movement execution.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>To this end, pea plants were tested with supports differing in width (1.1 vs. 2 cm) and distance (5 vs. 10 cm). MT, circumnutation kinematics (i.e., duration, length and total of circumnutation) and morphological measures were analysed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Pea plants modulated the temporal dynamics of their approach-to-clasp movement in response to different task constraints. Specifically, MT increased as both support distance and support width increased, indicating that these factors acted as cumulative spatial constraints.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings suggest that spatial constraints modulate the temporal dynamics of pea plant approach-to-clasp movements providing a basis for future investigations into how environmental factors shape plant behaviour.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13647748/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148426148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Discrete foraging landscapes support large scale migrations of a marine fish.","authors":"Lucas P Griffin, Oliver N Shipley, Aaron J Adams, Jacob W Brownscombe, Simona A Ceriani, Steven J Cooke, Joseph J Dello Russo, Seth D Newsome, Michael Power, JoEllen K Wilson, Andy J Danylchuk","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00677-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00677-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many marine animals migrate thousands of kilometers, yet the spatial extent of dietary resources acquired along these routes remains poorly understood. Identifying foraging areas across a species' annual cycle is critical for understanding habitat connectivity, aligning conservation with locations essential for sustaining populations, and predicting how environmental variability influences resources. We integrated continental-scale stable isotope assignment modeling (n = 417 individuals) with five years of electronic tagging (n = 85 individuals), using movement data to spatially constrain isotope-based foraging assignments, to identify foraging locations along migration routes of Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus). Distinct foraging regions emerged across the southeastern United States, including South Florida, the northern Gulf of Mexico, and the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Tissue-specific isotope incorporation rates indicated temporal variation in habitat use, with foraging activity often hundreds of kilometers from capture sites (mean distance to peak probability = 296 ± 188 km). These findings provide a framework for managing foraging habitats essential for highly migratory marine species.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13551809/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148413547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Distance to central-place drives species-specific habitat selection in sympatric insectivorous birds.","authors":"Wiebke Ullmann, Nadja Schedensack, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt, Marius Grabow, Conny Landgraf, Carolin Scholz, Jan Pufelski, Florian Jeltsch, Ran Nathan, Sivan Toledo, Martin Mayer","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00676-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00676-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Agricultural intensification is a major driver of land use change, thereby reducing biodiversity and leading to population declines across various animal groups. In response, animals can mediate some negative fitness impacts and navigate through agricultural landscapes with reduced resource availability by changing their habitat selection via movement decisions - particularly when constrained by central-place foraging, which requires balancing travel costs against energetic returns.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Here, using miniature ATLAS tags (Advanced Tracking and Localisation of Animals in real-life Systems), we tracked 101 house martins and 87 barn swallows at high-resolution to investigate their state-specific habitat selection and mapped the insect abundance and diversity across an intensively used agricultural landscape.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both species mainly avoided arable fields and increasingly selected for forests and water bodies with distance from the colonies. House martins ranged farther from colonies than barn swallows and also showed strong distance-dependent selection for structurally complex habitats, such as extensive grasslands and green areas within villages. Furthermore, house martins selected for proximity to water bodies, while barn swallows' selection focused on proximity to woody vegetation structures. During our 2023 insect sampling window, habitat selection tracked mapped insect richness more closely than mapped insect abundance.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Distance-dependent divergence in space use suggests horizontal niche differentiation between sympatric central-place foragers, with potential implications for coexistence. Combined, our findings point to the importance of maintaining extensively used grasslands and small-scale habitat structures within intensively managed farmland to improve the abundance and diversity of prey for farmland passerines.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13339423/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148383229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using semi-folded arenas to observe spontaneous emergence of collective trails in whole colonies of termites.","authors":"Helder Hugo, Iain Douglas Couzin","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00674-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00674-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Collective movement in social organisms emerges from local interactions and can generate large-scale spatial patterns of ecological relevance. In termites, trail formation is a well-known collective phenomenon, yet reproducing and recording its emergence under controlled laboratory conditions using whole colonies remains challenging. Existing laboratory approaches often rely on confined arenas or manually assembled subgroups, which can restrict movement and limit observation of colony-level dynamics. Here, we present a semi-folded arena designed for whole-colony observation of termite movement under controlled conditions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We developed a circular semi-folded arena that remained continuously connected to an intact nest and allowed individuals to move across a central observation surface while recirculating through a folded peripheral section. Using whole colonies of the Neotropical termite Constrictotermes cyphergaster, we recorded exploratory activity under baseline conditions, in the absence of added food or water. High-resolution video recordings were analysed using automated movement extraction to recover trajectories and visualise collective trail structure.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Within the first 6 min of activity, collective trail structure was observed in 15 of the 16 colonies analysed. Under these conditions, the semi-folded setup captured early collective trail structure, visible as convergence of cumulative trajectories along shared routes radiating from the arena entrance region. Automated movement extraction was compatible with dense whole-colony recordings and yielded large quantities of positional data during the initial observation interval. Descriptive trajectory-based outputs, including speed distributions for workers and soldiers, showed that the recordings were suitable for recovery of fine-scale movement information. Repeatedly used routes were also often marked by visible dark traces on the paper lining by the end of the observations, providing a qualitative record of cumulative route use.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The semi-folded arena provides a practical method for recording whole-colony termite movement under laboratory conditions while maintaining continuous nest access and avoiding manual transfer of individuals during trials. Rather than replacing conventional arena designs, this approach offers an additional methodological option for studying emergent movement patterns in species for which whole-colony observation is feasible. More broadly, it expands the experimental toolkit available for investigating colony-scale spatial organisation under controlled conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13576293/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148334368","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Current-following behaviour during maiden foraging trips predicts survival in naive marine mammals.","authors":"Dahlia Foo, Clive R McMahon, Mark A Hindell, Michael Fedak, Martin Biuw, Bernie McConnell, Ben Raymond","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00669-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00669-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Identifying the determinants of juvenile survival is crucial for understanding the population ecology of long-lived species, where parental guidance can influence naive juvenile survival rates. In southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), offspring receive no foraging site knowledge from their parents, only fat reserves. We focus on how movement patterns during the pups' maiden foraging trip influence their survival at Macquarie Island. We tracked weaned pups with satellite tags during their post-weaning migration and compared their movements to the post-moult winter migrations of adult females. We found that pups travelled predominantly in an easterly to south-easterly direction, in line with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current may provide a passive survival advantage for naive pups, with current-following predicting survival probability. We propose an \"accessibility area\" concept in which currents expand the foraging area accessible to energy-limited pups, providing a theoretical framework that may apply broadly to marine species with naive dispersing juveniles. Adult females showed different dispersal patterns, travelling southwards towards Antarctic waters, suggesting that learned experience may influence their direction.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13551845/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148304091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age, morphology, and environmental variation shape movement behaviour syndromes in a riverine fish - golden perch (Macquaria ambigua).","authors":"Joshua Whiley, Luke Carpenter-Bundhoo, Doug Harding, Kate Hodges, Ryan Woods, Glenn B McGregor, Jonathan C Marshall, James Fawcett, Colin L Burke, Kyne Krusic-Golub, Brien Roberts, Gavin L Butler, Mark J Kennard","doi":"10.1186/s40462-026-00672-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40462-026-00672-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding the scale and characteristics of animal movements allows for effective species management. These movement characteristics can vary widely within a species, so there is a need to understand and account for the spectrum of movement behaviours within a population. Movement ecology studies of freshwater fish predominantly aim to uncover environmental correlates of population-wide movement behaviours. However, few studies consider the specific movement types that may exist within a species or population. This is somewhat surprising considering the importance of fish movement and migration in determining population characteristics and species persistence over time. In this study, we used acoustic telemetry to investigate the role and extent of intrapopulation variation in the movement behaviour of golden perch (Macquaria ambigua, Percichthyidae) in the Condamine-Balonne River system, Australia. After tracking 132 individuals between 2018 and 2025, we employed a novel approach to characterise annual fish movement behaviour into distinct movement groups using a suite of movement data metrics. These groups were then compared to morphological and environmental variations, assessing group membership. We found strong variation in the movement behaviour of golden perch and identified five distinct movement groups. The proportion of individuals in each movement group varied with hydrological alteration and demonstrated behavioural plasticity within the population, possibly in response to the increased density within weir pool habitats. Fish that exhibited strong home-site residency and low mobility (under 5 km linear range) were most prevalent, and only a small number of fish (n = 18) moved more than 50 km per year. Higher mobility was associated with larger body size (length and weight) and increased age. Future management actions for freshwater fish may benefit from recognising the diverse movement syndromes present within a population. Integrating these behavioural groups, and their differing requirements, into environmental flow management could better preserve key ecological functions and strengthen population resilience.</p>","PeriodicalId":54288,"journal":{"name":"Movement Ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13417841/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148240585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}