PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - I. D. Jonsen
AU  - C. R. McMahon
AU  - T. A. Patterson
AU  - M. Auger-Méthé
AU  - R. Harcourt
AU  - M. A. Hindell
AU  - S. Bestley
TI  - Movement behaviour responses to environment: fast inference of individual variation with a mixed effects model
AID  - 10.1101/314690
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 314690
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/05/04/314690.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/05/04/314690.full
AB  - Telemetry data provide a rich source of information on animals use of space, habitat preferences and movement behaviour. Yet habitat models fit to these data are blind to the underlying behavioural context. Conversely, behavioural models accounting for individual variability are too slow for meaningful analysis of large telemetry datasets. Applying new fast-estimation tools, we show how a model incorporating mixed effects within a flexible random walk movement process rapidly infers among-individual variability in environment-movement behaviour relationships. We demonstrate our approach using southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) telemetry data. Seals consistently reduced speed and directionality (move persistence) with increasing sea ice coverage, had variable responses to chlorophyll concentration and consistently reduced move persistence in regions where circumpolar deep water shoaled. Our new modelling framework is extensible and substantively advances analysis of telemetry data by allowing fast and flexible mixed effects estimation of potential drivers of movement behaviour processes.