ABSTRACT
Movements, defined as spatial changes in the location of an animal in time, are a core aspect of an animal’s life and its interactions within the ecosystem. A wide variety of movement types have evolved in different species, and can be seen as a key aspect of an organism’s adaptive capacity and evolutionary potential. Animal movements occur over a range of scales, from ‘station-keeping’-type residency, to ‘classic’ long-distance migrations, with substantial variability in the scale, timing, duration and periodicity of movement modes (Dingle 1996). For ecologists and biologists today, the study of faunal movements – particularly migrations – is important for a variety of reasons: not only do ranging behaviours and migrations shape the distributions and actions of individuals or groups of organisms, but they also act to influence community and ecosystem structures and dynamics, evolutionary processes, and even global biodiversity (Nathan et al. 2008).
