We constructed differential equation models for the diurnal abundance and
distribution of breeding glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens)
as they moved among nesting and non-nesting habitat patches. We used time
scale techniques to reduce the differential equations to algebraic equations
and connected the models to field data. The models explained the data as a
function of abiotic environmental variables with $R^{2}=0.57$. A primary
goal of this study is to demonstrate the utility of a methodology that can
be used by ecologists and wildlife managers to understand and predict daily
activity patterns in breeding seabirds.
Citation: Andrea L. Moore, Smruti P. Damania, Shandelle M. Henson, James L. Hayward. Modeling the daily activities of breeding colonial seabirds: Dynamic occupancy patterns in multiple habitat patches[J]. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 2008, 5(4): 831-842. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2008.5.831
Abstract
We constructed differential equation models for the diurnal abundance and
distribution of breeding glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens)
as they moved among nesting and non-nesting habitat patches. We used time
scale techniques to reduce the differential equations to algebraic equations
and connected the models to field data. The models explained the data as a
function of abiotic environmental variables with $R^{2}=0.57$. A primary
goal of this study is to demonstrate the utility of a methodology that can
be used by ecologists and wildlife managers to understand and predict daily
activity patterns in breeding seabirds.