Individual-Based Modeling: Comparing Model Outputs to Telemetry Data with Application to the Florida Panther

Mean distance of the locations of an animal from the boundaries of its home range was presented as a measure of its space-use preference. Methods for evaluating the predictive ability of an individual-based model were also presented. These methods were applied to data on the Florida panther and some interesting results were obtained.

A strong negative correlation was observed between age and home range size of the panther, indicating constrained mobility of the panther during its old age. Space-use preference was also highly dependent on age of the panther. A general trend was found for panthers, which indicates they stay away from the boundaries of their home range during old age. It was also observed that sex of the panther and season of the year do not have any effect on the space-use preference.

A random movement model was used to simulate panther movement; applicability of this model to panther data was evaluated based upon its ability to depict the animal’s space-use preference and shift of activity center over time. It was concluded that comparison of modeled and observed movement data accumulated over a long period of time might give misleading results. Data should be subdivided into different age periods and the model should be tested in each period.