Part I. Natal dispersal distances of mammals. Natal dispersal distances are the distances that juvenile animals travel from their birthplace to their adult home. An assessment of the factors affecting dispersal distances is important for understanding population spread, recolonization, and gene flow which are central issues for conservation of many vertebrate species. For example, an understanding of dispersal distances will help to identify which species in a community are vulnerable to the loss of connectedness of habitat.
To further the understanding of determinants of natal dispersal distances, researchers gathered data on body weight, diet type, and maximum natal dispersal distance for various animals. Data are taken from Sutherland, G.D., et al., 2000, "Scaling of natal dispersal distances in terrestrial birds and mammals," Conservation Ecology 4(1): 16. Shown here are the first 6 of 64 rows of data on mammals.
The paper can be found on the web here. You may refer to the Introduction and the "Data Collection" section of the Methods section. Reading beyond these sections is not likely to be useful. It is very long, and you may find it difficult to follow. You are not expected to repeat their analyses. The data we will use is taken from Appendix A2. Access the data for this problem.
Use techniques from Chapters 7-11 to analyze the data to describe the distribution of maximum dispersal distance as a function of body mass and diet type. Be sure to interpret the parameters of the model you select on the original scale of measurement. Use the model parameters to make comparisons between dispersal distances for the three diet types.
You will submit:
Exercises to submit on separate sheet(s):
