Daily ranges and home ranges as determined by GPS dataloggers don’t differ in size in a small central place forager

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Home ranges are often smaller than daily ranges—the areas used within a single day—though the two can be identical, particularly in central place foragers that return to a nest after foraging. Home ranges are measured using GPS collars, but small mammals can only carry light collars with small batteries, restricting data collection. This raises the question whether daily ranges can reliably estimate home range sizes in small mammals. I investigated this in bush Karoo rats, central place foragers living in a seasonal environment. Using mini-GPS dataloggers, I collected high-frequency data (fixes every 5 minutes) over one day to calculate daily ranges, and low-frequency data (fixes every hour) over five days for home ranges. I studied 52 females in the dry season and 61 in the moist season, and 17 males (dry season only, as they are not resident in the moist season). Males had larger home ranges than females but not larger daily ranges. Females showed larger daily than home ranges, especially in the moist season, indicating that frequent fixes in a single day can yield accurate range estimates. Female daily ranges, but not home ranges, were significantly larger in the moist season. These findings suggest that when battery life limits GPS data collection, estimating daily ranges with many fixes may be as reliable—or even more accurate—than estimating home ranges with fewer fixes over multiple days in small central place foragers. territory home range solitary living foraging data logger Figures Figure 1 Introduction The area traversed by an animal, defined as its home range, is important for its daily activities such as foraging, mating and caring for young (Burt, 1943 ; Maher and Lott, 1995 ). In many species, the home range is much larger than the area individuals use during the day (Powell, 2000 ), for example in dwarf mongooses, Helogale parvula (Arbon et al., 2024 ) and in large mammals such as African ungulates and bears (Arsenault and Owen-Smith, 2002 ; De Angelis et al., 2021 ). Whether and to what extent daily range size differs from home range size is likely to depend on the species ecology, especially its foraging strategy. Large herbivores such as mountain zebras and large predators such as leopards use different parts of their home range at different days, often visiting some areas irregularly (Fattebert et al., 2016 ). In contrast, central place foragers have a central place, typically their nest or resting place, from which they forage, returning to their central place to eat (Orians and Pearson, 1979 ). Daily range and home range are predicted to be very similar in central place foragers, but not in species foraging over large areas. Range sizes of animals have been determined by different methods which have advanced over the years and which were always based on tracking the animals. Traditional techniques involve actively following an animal that is carrying a radio-collar and recording fixes every few hours. This technique requires a big time investment and can cause direct disturbance on the animal (Kays et al., 2015 ; Makuya and Schradin, 2023 ). Satellite tracking through GPS automated the process and has been used extensively on large mammals (Kays et al., 2015 ) and more recently also on small mammals (Makuya and Schradin, 2023 ). The estimated size of a home range depends on how often the animal has been tracked, i.e., how many fixes have been obtained. In small mammals, typically 7–9 days of radio-tracking with fixes every two hours are needed to reach an asymptotic home range size (Schradin and Pillay, 2005 ). Using GPS radio-collars allows to take more fixes per day, but battery size constraints for how long collars last. This is no problem in large mammals that can carry large collars but represents a real constraint in small mammals where collars can be only a few grams. This constraint is the main reason why so far very few studies used GPS-collars on mammals below 500g (Kays et al., 2015 ), and only a few on mammals below 100g, most of which were bats (Conenna et al., 2019 ; Wild et al., 2022 ). GPS-collars fitted to rodents need heavy coating protecting against gnawing, further restricting battery size (Makuya et al., 2024 ). In sum, when using GPS data loggers on small mammals, there is a trade-off between the fixes per day and life expectancy. Environmental factors affect the size of an animals’ home range. In many mammals, there is a strong correlation between home rage size and resource availability which can vary seasonally. For example, in the red and roe deer, home range size was larger during the food restricted season (Richard et al., 2014 ). When food was abundant within an area, the deer did not move around a lot which accounted for the smaller range size during the food rich seasons. Similarly, home range size can be influenced by sex, with males generally having larger home range sizes than females, possibly to have access to multiple females for mating opportunities (Edelman and Koprowski, 2006 ) or due to having higher energy requirements (Yan et al., 2017 ). However, Yan et al. ( 2017 ) found that in takins ( Budorcas toxicolor ) likely due to their grouping behaviour, both males and females had similar home range sizes, irrespective of the season (Yan et al., 2017 ). Bush Karoo rats ( Otomys unisulcatus ) are small diurnal rodents that occupy an open habitat that allows for easy observations in the field (Makuya et al 2024 ). It is endemic to semi-arid regions of South Africa and builds stick-lodges inside shrubs (Jackson et al., 2002 ). It is a central-place forager, foraging within a short distance (less than 25m) from its lodge to patches of leafy succulent plants and ephemeral herbs, called foraging grounds, and then returning to the lodge (Schradin, 2005 ). So far, ranges have always been determined as daily ranges, using a high resolution of one fix every 5minutes (Makuya and Schradin, 2023 ) which allowed to monitor movements of neighbouring females (Makuya et al., 2024 ). Previously I found that using mini-GPS dataloggers, the female bush Karoo rats have a kin based spatial structure characterised by close kin living closer to each other than non-kin (Makuya et al., 2024 ). However, whether daily ranges are a good estimate for the entire area used by bush Karoo rats, or critically underestimate home ranges used over multiple days, remains so far unknown. If home ranges would be larger, this would compromise previous conclusions. If they would be of similar size, this would allow to use also in future studies high resolution daily ranges. Here I compared daily range sizes collected during one day with fixes collected every 5 minutes with home range sizes collected over 5 days with fixes every hour (the maximum which the batteries of the used mini-GPS allowed) in bush Karoo rats. Specifically, I tested the following predictions: 1) Home range size estimates are larger than daily range sizes 2) Ranges are smaller during the dry non-breeding season than during the breeding season, when individuals search for more food for reproduction. 3) I also compared range sizes between males and females, but only during the dry season, when males are resident. During the breeding season, males roam over large areas and are often away for weeks from the field site, making it impossible to reliably retrieve mini-GPS collars. Materials and methods Study site and period The study was conducted from January 2022 until August 2023 at the Succulent Karoo Research Station (SKRS) located within the Goegap Nature Reserve, Northern Cape, South Africa. The field site of 4.5 hectares is located next to SKRS. The climate is semi-arid with 160mm of rainfall mainly in winter. Temperatures reach a minimum of -3°C in winter and maximum of up to 43°C in summer (Schradin, 2005 ). I distinguish between two seasons, the dry non-breeding season (December to May) and the wet breeding season (June to November). Mini-GPS dataloggers The study population is continuously trapped and monitored such that we know all individuals present at the field site (Makuya et al., 2024 ). I placed foldable Sherman and locally produced heavy traps of the Sherman style at occupied bush Karoo rat lodges. I processed all trapped rats and recorded their ID, weight (to the nearest 0.1 gram) and their reproductive status (perforated vagina or not in females; males scrotal or not) before putting on GPS-collars. I used Gipsy 6 mini-GPS dataloggers models from Technosmart, Italy ( https://www.technosmart.eu/gipsy-remote-copy/ ). I validated the method before (Makuya and Schradin, 2023 ) and used it successfully (Makuya et al., 2024 ). The mini-GPS loggers were fitted with a chest and waist belt made of wire running through a rubber tube, to avoid irritation to the skin, and fastened with a fishing crimp. I programmed the loggers using two difference settings. The first was to collect data for daily ranges. The loggers were programmed to be off on day 1 and 2 (habituation) and then to collect fixes on day 3 every five minutes starting from 06:00 (before the diurnal rats became active) until 23:59. The second setting was to collect home range data and these loggers were programmed to collect 9 fixes a day for 5 days, starting on day 1. 9 fixes per day for five days was the maximum number of fixes I could obtain before the batteries became flat. The first five fixes were between 05:00 and 10:00 and the next four fixes between 16:00 and 20:00 (hourly method). These times were selected as they represented the active period of the bush Karoo rats who rest during the hot periods of the day in their lodge (as confirmed by focal animal observations) where no GPS fixes can be obtained due to obstruction.). I re-trapped the animals to remove the loggers and retrieve the data. In the dry season, I collected data for daily home ranges from 39 female, and from those additionally data for home ranges from 13 females. In the wet season, daily ranges were collected from 46 females and of those daily ranges from 20 females. Sample sizes for daily ranges were larger as this was the focus of my studies (Makuya et al., 2024 ). Males were fit with loggers only in the dry season (N = 7 for daily and N = 11 for home ranges) as it was not possible to trap them consistently during the wet season when they regularly disappear from the field site for weeks. Statistical analysis The range sizes were calculated using the autocorrelated Kernel density estimation (AKDE) implemented in the R packages ctmm (Calabrese et al., 2016 ) and ctmmweb (Dong et al., 2018 ). This method takes the GPS location error into account that is usually prevalent in range estimates of animals with smaller home ranges (Fleming et al., 2021 ). I then calculated the averages and standard deviations of the obtained range sizes. Six outliers were excluded from the model as they indicated too high values. I was then left with the final n, which is the samples used to run the final models (Table 1 ). I ran a linear model in R to establish which factors influenced the range size. The fixed factors I used were season, sex and method (daily vs home range). The first model was using data from the dry season to determine the influence of the estimation model on the ranges of both sexes: Range size = sex + method + sex*method + (1|ID) . The second model was performed only on females and could therefore include the factor season (dry and wet season): Range size = season + method + season*method + (1|ID) . Table 1 Sample sizes and daily as well as home range sizes in the bush Karoo rat depending on sex and season. Note that no data for males in the moist season were collected. Method Season Sex N Outlier Final_N Mean Min Max Std Daily range Dry Males 7 0 7 690.3 236.1 1933.7 588.8 Home range dry males 11 1 10 730.16 269.6 1614.16 390.18 Daily range dry females 39 0 39 745.67 129.64 2164.7 473.9 Home range dry females 13 0 13 479.4 173.22 1109.42 242.57 Daily range wet females 46 3 43 1703.15 335.2 5721.25 970.6 Home range wet females 20 2 18 489.42 204.5 1117.46 255.74 Results Model for the dry season with both sexes : Males had larger dry season home ranges than females but not larger daily ranges (Table 2 : Fig. 1 ). In the dry season, females had larger daily ranges than home ranges, while the opposite was true for males (Fig. 1 ), as shown by the significant interaction between sex and method (Table 2 ). Model for both seasons, females only : Females daily ranges were significantly larger than home ranges (Table 3 : Fig. 1 ). Female daily ranges but not home ranges were significantly larger in the moist season, as indicated by the significant interaction between season and method (Table 3 : Fig. 1 ). Table 2 Model results from the GLM model area ~ sex + method + sex * method + (1|ID rat) for data on both sexes in the dry season. Bold values indicate significant predictors. Predictors Estimate Standard error P value Intercept 6.90 0.08 < 0.001 Sex (male) -0.69 0.20 < 0.001 Method (home range) -1.04 0.01 < 0.001 Sex (male)*method (home range) 1.17 0.03 < 0.001 Table 3 Model results from the GLM model area ~ season + method + season * method + (1|ID rat) for data on females in both the dry and wet season. Bold values indicate significant predictors. Predictors Estimate Standard error P value Intercept 6.55 0.06 < 0.001 Season (wet) 0.60 0.01 < 0.001 Method (home range) -0.32 0.01 < 0.001 Season (wet)*method (home range) -1.0 0.02 < 0.001 Discussion GPS data loggers offer a unique way to determine ranges of wild living mammals, but battery size restricts their use in small mammals, which means the majority of all mammal species. My aim was to see whether range sizes estimated in a 100g mammal from one day with frequent collection of fixes every 5 minutes leads to similar estimates as when collecting data over five days with fixes every hour, the more traditional way to determine home ranges. Males had slightly larger home range than daily range in the dry season, while females had large daily ranges in the moist season. Females had larger daily ranges in the moist than in the dry season, consistent with my previous result (Makuya et al., 2024 ). While some significant differences were found, these differences were not always in the same direction, and overall, the estimates of the two different methods were quite similar (Fig. 1 ). In sum, my results indicate that daily ranges are an accurate estimate of the home range size in this central place forager. The estimate of range sizes is influenced by how many fixes are collected and over how many days (Huck et al., 2008 ). In my study, the sampling rate of 5-minutes vs 1-hour yielded significant differences in the range size between males and females. The underlying principle is that the duration of tracking an animal and how long it takes an animal to cross its home range influences range size estimates (Powell, 2000 ). For species with large home ranges that take hours or even days to be crossed it is therefore important to monitor individuals over long periods of time even if this means decreasing the sampling rate (Börger et al., 2006 ; Mitchell et al., 2019 ). However, for species with very small home ranges, which can be crossed in minutes, this is not critical. Central place foragers like the bush Karoo rat are representative of such species with small home ranges. Range sizes differed between sexes. In mammals, males and females make use of their environment in different ways resulting in differences in their range sizes (Schradin, 2006 ). For example, in the wild pig, males were found to have almost 3x larger home ranges compared to the females (10km 2 vs 3km 2 ) (Schlichting et al., 2022 ). In many small mammals, males have a larger home range than the females (Eccard et al., 2002 ; Lin et al., 2009 ; Schneider and Kappeler, 2016 ; Eccard et al., 2022 ). Male bush Karoo rats had larger home ranges than females but not larger daily ranges. However, male home ranges were larger than their daily ranges, which was not the case in females. This indicates that male – but not female - bush Karoo rats use different areas on different days, maybe to explore dispersal options. I did not collect data in the moist season, because then males are not resident and roam over huge areas, as indicated by trapping data, increasing the risk to lose loggers. Still, this indicates that in the breeding season their home ranges are much larger than those of females. Female range sizes differed between seasons. Daily ranges but not home ranges were significantly larger in the moist season. In the moist breading season, higher food availability means females have more energy to cover a larger area. Although this is in contrast to some species like the narrow-striped mongoose ( Mungotictis decemlineata ) which had larger ranges during the dry season (Schneider and Kappeler, 2016 ). In the eastern rock sengi ( Elephantulus myurus ), home ranges were larger in the moist breeding season (Hoffmann et al., 2020 ), and the same has been reported for striped mice( Rhabdomys pumilio ) (Schradin and Pillay, 2005 ; Schradin et al., 2010 ). There was no clear overall difference in range size estimate depending on the method used. In bush Karoo rats, estimates of daily ranges were larger than home ranges for females, while the opposite was true for males. The larger home range size and not daily size in males could be as a result of males roaming over a larger area over multiple days, while females tend to be more central place foragers than the males. The difference between daily and home range especially in the wet season for the females could be that the bush Karoo rats did move significantly between 10:00 and 16:00, which was only recorded for daily ranges, but not for home ranges. In conclusion, I could show that daily range estimates with many fixes are as accurate as estimates based on several days with less fixes in bush Karoo rats. My study suggests that determining daily ranges might also be appropriate in other species with small range sizes, especially in central place foragers. It nevertheless also highlights that range size is dependent on sampling method and for every species an appropriate method needs to be chosen to match the research questions. Declarations Conflict of interest The author declares no conflicting interests. Funding declaration Funding was available from the University of the Witwatersrand, the CNRS, the Succulent Karoo Research Station, a joint CNRS-WITS PhD program, and the National Research Foundation. L.M. was supported by the joint CNRS-WITS PhD program. This study is part of the long-term Studies in Ecology and Evolution (SEE-Life) program of the CNRS. Acknowledgements I am thankful to Carsten Schradin for helpful comments on the manuscript. This study was made possible by the administrative and technical support of the Succulent Karoo Research Station (registered South African NPO 122–134). This study is part of the long-term Studies in Ecology and Evolution (SEE-Life) program of the CNRS. Data availability Data has been uploaded as supplementary material. References Arbon J, Morris-Drake A, Kern J, Giuggioli L, Radford A (2024) Social and seasonal variation in dwarf mongoose home-range size, daily movements and burrow use. Behav Ecol 35 Arsenault R, Owen-Smith N (2002) Facilitation versus competition in grazing herbivore assemblages. Oikos 97:313–318 Börger L, Franconi N, De Michele G, Gantz A, Meschi F, Manica A, Lovari S, Coulson T (2006) Effects of sampling regime on the mean and variance of home range size estimates. J Anim Ecol, 1393–1405 Burt WH (1943) Territoriality and home range concepts as applied to mammals. 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PLoS ONE 17, e0267730 Yan WB, Zeng ZG, Gong HS, He XB, Liu XY, Ma YS, Song YL (2017) Seasonal variation and sexual difference of home ranges by takins. J Wildl Manag 81:938–942 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Mammalian Biology → Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 11 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 04 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 01 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6767029","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":469591647,"identity":"031c05d9-0311-421f-af0f-db9b6c1fb10e","order_by":0,"name":"Lindelani Makuya","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2986-1627","institution":"University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lindelani","middleName":"","lastName":"Makuya","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-28 10:22:36","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6767029/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6767029/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-025-00553-4","type":"published","date":"2025-12-16T15:57:45+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":84602876,"identity":"9d21bd76-59d4-426c-8a39-0b8f1461cb19","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-14 10:11:35","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":18761,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eBoxplots showing the daily and home range sizer per season and sex. Note that no data were collected for males in the wet season.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6767029/v1/b9be6da972b4a54fab7bb840.png"},{"id":98814698,"identity":"073c6863-e650-4ffe-8a22-098b6367d20b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-22 16:12:47","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":518352,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6767029/v1/b2f0717d-b7b2-4d2d-bfc3-7b3022067c50.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Daily ranges and home ranges as determined by GPS dataloggers don’t differ in size in a small central place forager","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe area traversed by an animal, defined as its home range, is important for its daily activities such as foraging, mating and caring for young (Burt, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1943\u003c/span\u003e; Maher and Lott, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1995\u003c/span\u003e). In many species, the home range is much larger than the area individuals use during the day (Powell, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2000\u003c/span\u003e), for example in dwarf mongooses, \u003cem\u003eHelogale parvula\u003c/em\u003e (Arbon et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) and in large mammals such as African ungulates and bears (Arsenault and Owen-Smith, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e; De Angelis et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhether and to what extent daily range size differs from home range size is likely to depend on the species ecology, especially its foraging strategy. Large herbivores such as mountain zebras and large predators such as leopards use different parts of their home range at different days, often visiting some areas irregularly (Fattebert et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). In contrast, central place foragers have a central place, typically their nest or resting place, from which they forage, returning to their central place to eat (Orians and Pearson, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1979\u003c/span\u003e). Daily range and home range are predicted to be very similar in central place foragers, but not in species foraging over large areas.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRange sizes of animals have been determined by different methods which have advanced over the years and which were always based on tracking the animals. Traditional techniques involve actively following an animal that is carrying a radio-collar and recording fixes every few hours. This technique requires a big time investment and can cause direct disturbance on the animal (Kays et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Makuya and Schradin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Satellite tracking through GPS automated the process and has been used extensively on large mammals (Kays et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e) and more recently also on small mammals (Makuya and Schradin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe estimated size of a home range depends on how often the animal has been tracked, i.e., how many fixes have been obtained. In small mammals, typically 7\u0026ndash;9 days of radio-tracking with fixes every two hours are needed to reach an asymptotic home range size (Schradin and Pillay, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e). Using GPS radio-collars allows to take more fixes per day, but battery size constraints for how long collars last. This is no problem in large mammals that can carry large collars but represents a real constraint in small mammals where collars can be only a few grams. This constraint is the main reason why so far very few studies used GPS-collars on mammals below 500g (Kays et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e), and only a few on mammals below 100g, most of which were bats (Conenna et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Wild et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). GPS-collars fitted to rodents need heavy coating protecting against gnawing, further restricting battery size (Makuya et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). In sum, when using GPS data loggers on small mammals, there is a trade-off between the fixes per day and life expectancy.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEnvironmental factors affect the size of an animals\u0026rsquo; home range. In many mammals, there is a strong correlation between home rage size and resource availability which can vary seasonally. For example, in the red and roe deer, home range size was larger during the food restricted season (Richard et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). When food was abundant within an area, the deer did not move around a lot which accounted for the smaller range size during the food rich seasons. Similarly, home range size can be influenced by sex, with males generally having larger home range sizes than females, possibly to have access to multiple females for mating opportunities (Edelman and Koprowski, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e) or due to having higher energy requirements (Yan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). However, Yan et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) found that in takins (\u003cem\u003eBudorcas toxicolor\u003c/em\u003e) likely due to their grouping behaviour, both males and females had similar home range sizes, irrespective of the season (Yan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBush Karoo rats (\u003cem\u003eOtomys unisulcatus\u003c/em\u003e) are small diurnal rodents that occupy an open habitat that allows for easy observations in the field (Makuya et al \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). It is endemic to semi-arid regions of South Africa and builds stick-lodges inside shrubs (Jackson et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e). It is a central-place forager, foraging within a short distance (less than 25m) from its lodge to patches of leafy succulent plants and ephemeral herbs, called foraging grounds, and then returning to the lodge (Schradin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e). So far, ranges have always been determined as daily ranges, using a high resolution of one fix every 5minutes (Makuya and Schradin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) which allowed to monitor movements of neighbouring females (Makuya et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Previously I found that using mini-GPS dataloggers, the female bush Karoo rats have a kin based spatial structure characterised by close kin living closer to each other than non-kin (Makuya et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). However, whether daily ranges are a good estimate for the entire area used by bush Karoo rats, or critically underestimate home ranges used over multiple days, remains so far unknown. If home ranges would be larger, this would compromise previous conclusions. If they would be of similar size, this would allow to use also in future studies high resolution daily ranges.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHere I compared daily range sizes collected during one day with fixes collected every 5 minutes with home range sizes collected over 5 days with fixes every hour (the maximum which the batteries of the used mini-GPS allowed) in bush Karoo rats. Specifically, I tested the following predictions: 1) Home range size estimates are larger than daily range sizes 2) Ranges are smaller during the dry non-breeding season than during the breeding season, when individuals search for more food for reproduction. 3) I also compared range sizes between males and females, but only during the dry season, when males are resident. During the breeding season, males roam over large areas and are often away for weeks from the field site, making it impossible to reliably retrieve mini-GPS collars.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Materials and methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eStudy site and period\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study was conducted from January 2022 until August 2023 at the Succulent Karoo Research Station (SKRS) located within the Goegap Nature Reserve, Northern Cape, South Africa. The field site of 4.5 hectares is located next to SKRS. The climate is semi-arid with 160mm of rainfall mainly in winter. Temperatures reach a minimum of -3\u0026deg;C in winter and maximum of up to 43\u0026deg;C in summer (Schradin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e). I distinguish between two seasons, the dry non-breeding season (December to May) and the wet breeding season (June to November).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMini-GPS dataloggers\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study population is continuously trapped and monitored such that we know all individuals present at the field site (Makuya et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). I placed foldable Sherman and locally produced heavy traps of the Sherman style at occupied bush Karoo rat lodges. I processed all trapped rats and recorded their ID, weight (to the nearest 0.1 gram) and their reproductive status (perforated vagina or not in females; males scrotal or not) before putting on GPS-collars.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eI used Gipsy 6 mini-GPS dataloggers models from Technosmart, Italy (\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://www.technosmart.eu/gipsy-remote-copy/\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"https://www.technosmart.eu/gipsy-remote-copy/\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e). I validated the method before (Makuya and Schradin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) and used it successfully (Makuya et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). The mini-GPS loggers were fitted with a chest and waist belt made of wire running through a rubber tube, to avoid irritation to the skin, and fastened with a fishing crimp. I programmed the loggers using two difference settings. The first was to collect data for daily ranges. The loggers were programmed to be off on day 1 and 2 (habituation) and then to collect fixes on day 3 every five minutes starting from 06:00 (before the diurnal rats became active) until 23:59. The second setting was to collect home range data and these loggers were programmed to collect 9 fixes a day for 5 days, starting on day 1. 9 fixes per day for five days was the maximum number of fixes I could obtain before the batteries became flat. The first five fixes were between 05:00 and 10:00 and the next four fixes between 16:00 and 20:00 (hourly method). These times were selected as they represented the active period of the bush Karoo rats who rest during the hot periods of the day in their lodge (as confirmed by focal animal observations) where no GPS fixes can be obtained due to obstruction.). I re-trapped the animals to remove the loggers and retrieve the data. In the dry season, I collected data for daily home ranges from 39 female, and from those additionally data for home ranges from 13 females. In the wet season, daily ranges were collected from 46 females and of those daily ranges from 20 females. Sample sizes for daily ranges were larger as this was the focus of my studies (Makuya et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Males were fit with loggers only in the dry season (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;7 for daily and N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;11 for home ranges) as it was not possible to trap them consistently during the wet season when they regularly disappear from the field site for weeks.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eStatistical analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe range sizes were calculated using the autocorrelated Kernel density estimation (AKDE) implemented in the R packages \u003cem\u003ectmm\u003c/em\u003e (Calabrese et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e) and \u003cem\u003ectmmweb\u003c/em\u003e (Dong et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). This method takes the GPS location error into account that is usually prevalent in range estimates of animals with smaller home ranges (Fleming et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). I then calculated the averages and standard deviations of the obtained range sizes. Six outliers were excluded from the model as they indicated too high values. I was then left with the final n, which is the samples used to run the final models (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). I ran a linear model in R to establish which factors influenced the range size. The fixed factors I used were season, sex and method (daily vs home range). The first model was using data from the dry season to determine the influence of the estimation model on the ranges of both sexes: \u003cem\u003eRange size\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;sex\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;method\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;sex*method + (1|ID)\u003c/em\u003e. The second model was performed only on females and could therefore include the factor season (dry and wet season): \u003cem\u003eRange size\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;season\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;method\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;season*method + (1|ID)\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSample sizes and daily as well as home range sizes in the bush Karoo rat depending on sex and season. Note that no data for males in the moist season were collected.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"10\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMethod\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeason\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSex\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOutlier\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFinal_N\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMean\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMin\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMax\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDaily range\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDry\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMales\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e690.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e236.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1933.7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e588.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHome range\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003edry\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emales\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e730.16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e269.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1614.16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e390.18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDaily range\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003edry\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003efemales\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e745.67\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e129.64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2164.7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e473.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHome range\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003edry\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003efemales\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e479.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e173.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1109.42\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e242.57\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDaily range\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ewet\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003efemales\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e43\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1703.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e335.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5721.25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e970.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHome range\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ewet\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003efemales\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e489.42\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e204.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1117.46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e255.74\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eModel for the dry season with both sexes\u003c/em\u003e: Males had larger dry season home ranges than females but not larger daily ranges (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e: Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). In the dry season, females had larger daily ranges than home ranges, while the opposite was true for males (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e), as shown by the significant interaction between sex and method (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eModel for both seasons, females only\u003c/em\u003e: Females daily ranges were significantly larger than home ranges (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e: Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). Female daily ranges but not home ranges were significantly larger in the moist season, as indicated by the significant interaction between season and method (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e: Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel results from the GLM model area\u0026thinsp;~\u0026thinsp;sex\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;method\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;sex * method + (1|ID rat) for data on both sexes in the dry season. Bold values indicate significant predictors.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePredictors\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEstimate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStandard error\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP value\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntercept\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSex (male)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.69\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMethod (home range)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-1.04\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSex (male)*method (home range)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel results from the GLM model area\u0026thinsp;~\u0026thinsp;season\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;method\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;season * method + (1|ID \u003cem\u003erat)\u003c/em\u003e for data on females in both the dry and wet season. Bold values indicate significant predictors.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePredictors\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEstimate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStandard error\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP value\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntercept\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.55\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeason (wet)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.60\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMethod (home range)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-0.32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeason (wet)*method (home range)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-1.0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.02\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eGPS data loggers offer a unique way to determine ranges of wild living mammals, but battery size restricts their use in small mammals, which means the majority of all mammal species. My aim was to see whether range sizes estimated in a 100g mammal from one day with frequent collection of fixes every 5 minutes leads to similar estimates as when collecting data over five days with fixes every hour, the more traditional way to determine home ranges. Males had slightly larger home range than daily range in the dry season, while females had large daily ranges in the moist season. Females had larger daily ranges in the moist than in the dry season, consistent with my previous result (Makuya et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). While some significant differences were found, these differences were not always in the same direction, and overall, the estimates of the two different methods were quite similar (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). In sum, my results indicate that daily ranges are an accurate estimate of the home range size in this central place forager.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe estimate of range sizes is influenced by how many fixes are collected and over how many days (Huck et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e). In my study, the sampling rate of 5-minutes vs 1-hour yielded significant differences in the range size between males and females. The underlying principle is that the duration of tracking an animal and how long it takes an animal to cross its home range influences range size estimates (Powell, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2000\u003c/span\u003e). For species with large home ranges that take hours or even days to be crossed it is therefore important to monitor individuals over long periods of time even if this means decreasing the sampling rate (B\u0026ouml;rger et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e; Mitchell et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). However, for species with very small home ranges, which can be crossed in minutes, this is not critical. Central place foragers like the bush Karoo rat are representative of such species with small home ranges.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRange sizes differed between sexes. In mammals, males and females make use of their environment in different ways resulting in differences in their range sizes (Schradin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e). For example, in the wild pig, males were found to have almost 3x larger home ranges compared to the females (10km\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e vs 3km\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e) (Schlichting et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). In many small mammals, males have a larger home range than the females (Eccard et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e; Lin et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e; Schneider and Kappeler, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Eccard et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Male bush Karoo rats had larger home ranges than females but not larger daily ranges. However, male home ranges were larger than their daily ranges, which was not the case in females. This indicates that male \u0026ndash; but not female - bush Karoo rats use different areas on different days, maybe to explore dispersal options. I did not collect data in the moist season, because then males are not resident and roam over huge areas, as indicated by trapping data, increasing the risk to lose loggers. Still, this indicates that in the breeding season their home ranges are much larger than those of females.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale range sizes differed between seasons. Daily ranges but not home ranges were significantly larger in the moist season. In the moist breading season, higher food availability means females have more energy to cover a larger area. Although this is in contrast to some species like the narrow-striped mongoose (\u003cem\u003eMungotictis decemlineata\u003c/em\u003e) which had larger ranges during the dry season (Schneider and Kappeler, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). In the eastern rock sengi (\u003cem\u003eElephantulus myurus\u003c/em\u003e), home ranges were larger in the moist breeding season (Hoffmann et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), and the same has been reported for striped mice(\u003cem\u003eRhabdomys pumilio\u003c/em\u003e) (Schradin and Pillay, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e; Schradin et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThere was no clear overall difference in range size estimate depending on the method used. In bush Karoo rats, estimates of daily ranges were larger than home ranges for females, while the opposite was true for males. The larger home range size and not daily size in males could be as a result of males roaming over a larger area over multiple days, while females tend to be more central place foragers than the males. The difference between daily and home range especially in the wet season for the females could be that the bush Karoo rats did move significantly between 10:00 and 16:00, which was only recorded for daily ranges, but not for home ranges.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn conclusion, I could show that daily range estimates with many fixes are as accurate as estimates based on several days with less fixes in bush Karoo rats. My study suggests that determining daily ranges might also be appropriate in other species with small range sizes, especially in central place foragers. It nevertheless also highlights that range size is dependent on sampling method and for every species an appropriate method needs to be chosen to match the research questions.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003ch2\u003eConflict of interest\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe author declares no conflicting interests.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eFunding\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003edeclaration\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFunding was available from the University of the Witwatersrand, the CNRS, the Succulent Karoo Research Station, a joint CNRS-WITS PhD program, and the National Research Foundation. L.M. was supported by the joint CNRS-WITS PhD program. This study is part of the long-term Studies in Ecology and Evolution (SEE-Life) program of the CNRS.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eI am thankful to Carsten Schradin for helpful comments on the manuscript. This study was made possible by the administrative and technical support of the Succulent Karoo Research Station (registered South African NPO 122\u0026ndash;134). This study is part of the long-term Studies in Ecology and Evolution (SEE-Life) program of the CNRS.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eData availability\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eData has been uploaded as supplementary material.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eArbon J, Morris-Drake A, Kern J, Giuggioli L, Radford A (2024) Social and seasonal variation in dwarf mongoose home-range size, daily movements and burrow use. Behav Ecol 35\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eArsenault R, Owen-Smith N (2002) Facilitation versus competition in grazing herbivore assemblages. 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J Wildl Manag 81:938\u0026ndash;942\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"mammalian-biology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"mamb","sideBox":"Learn more about [Mammalian Biology](https://link.springer.com/journal/42991)","snPcode":"42991","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/mamb/default2.aspx","title":"Mammalian Biology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"territory, home range, solitary living, foraging, data logger","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6767029/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6767029/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eAnimals use home ranges for daily activities such as foraging, mating, and caring for young. Home ranges are often smaller than daily ranges\u0026mdash;the areas used within a single day\u0026mdash;though the two can be identical, particularly in central place foragers that return to a nest after foraging. Home ranges are measured using GPS collars, but small mammals can only carry light collars with small batteries, restricting data collection. This raises the question whether daily ranges can reliably estimate home range sizes in small mammals. I investigated this in bush Karoo rats, central place foragers living in a seasonal environment. Using mini-GPS dataloggers, I collected high-frequency data (fixes every 5 minutes) over one day to calculate daily ranges, and low-frequency data (fixes every hour) over five days for home ranges. I studied 52 females in the dry season and 61 in the moist season, and 17 males (dry season only, as they are not resident in the moist season). Males had larger home ranges than females but not larger daily ranges. Females showed larger daily than home ranges, especially in the moist season, indicating that frequent fixes in a single day can yield accurate range estimates. Female daily ranges, but not home ranges, were significantly larger in the moist season. These findings suggest that when battery life limits GPS data collection, estimating daily ranges with many fixes may be as reliable\u0026mdash;or even more accurate\u0026mdash;than estimating home ranges with fewer fixes over multiple days in small central place foragers.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Daily ranges and home ranges as determined by GPS dataloggers don’t differ in size in a small central place forager","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-06-14 10:11:30","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6767029/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2025-06-11T08:12:59+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-06-11T06:17:51+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-06-04T10:48:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Mammalian Biology","date":"2025-06-02T02:26:37+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"mammalian-biology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"mamb","sideBox":"Learn more about [Mammalian Biology](https://link.springer.com/journal/42991)","snPcode":"42991","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/mamb/default2.aspx","title":"Mammalian Biology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"cfc2e1be-3adc-4bb2-9b30-4e7af06a183a","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 14th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-22T16:08:17+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-6767029","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-025-00553-4","journal":{"identity":"mammalian-biology","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Mammalian Biology"},"publishedOn":"2025-12-16 15:57:45","publishedOnDateReadable":"December 16th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-06-14 10:11:30","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s42991-025-00553-4","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-025-00553-4","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6767029","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6767029","identity":"rs-6767029","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}