Abstract 123 – Driving change: How do change-points in grizzly bear movement behaviour and measured landscape productivity correlate?

Jessa Marley, Rebecca Tyson, Michael Noonan

In animal movement ecology, studies often look first at the qualities of the environmental
landscape to interpret changes in movement behaviour patterns, for example by using step
selection analysis. But this method starts with the environment and looks for behaviour
switches second. Due to limitations in GPS data collection, the two or three dimensional nature
of movement, and impacting missing values, there is a gap in ecology for identifying change
points for movement strategies. We attempt to first identify points in time where animals
change their movement behaviour, and then look at the environment for characteristics that
maybe correspond to such changes and resulting patterns. The methods described are applied
to grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) telemetry data in south-western Alberta from 2001 to 2018. Such techniques could allow deeper insight into many species and the hidden forces
behind movement decisions.