e-obs Stories & Publications

@article{tekam_habitat_2026,

title = {Habitat Selection and Seed Dispersal by the Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata) in the Rainforests of Southern Cameroon},

author = {Antoine S. A. Tekam and Nicholas J. Russo and Bonaventure Sonk\'{e} and Vincent Deblauwe and Docas L. Nshom and Nicolas Barbier and Ant\'{o}nio Ferraz and Sassan Saatchi and Martin Wikelski and Elsa M. Ordway and Thomas B. Smith},

url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/btp.70153},

doi = {10.1111/btp.70153},

issn = {1744-7429},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

urldate = {2026-02-17},

journal = {Biotropica},

volume = {58},

number = {1},

pages = {e70153},

abstract = {Tropical rainforests are biodiversity hotspots, where the seeds of 60%\textendash90% of trees are dispersed by animals, yet movement data needed to understand the behaviors and habitat selection of tropical frugivores remain scarce. We GPS-tracked four great blue turacos (Corythaeola cristata) in the Dja Faunal Reserve of southern Cameroon and predicted spatial patterns of seed dispersal within each bird's home range, which covered up to 2.33 km2. Using integrated Step Selection Analyses, we related turaco movements to LiDAR-derived measurements of 3D vegetation structure and habitat type. One individual preferred areas of tall canopy height, whereas one preferred intermediate canopy height and avoided swamps and areas of greater vertical vegetation complexity. Seed dispersal patterns for the two turacos with the largest home ranges were predicted to be more diffuse, with local maxima almost an order of magnitude smaller than those with smaller home ranges. Although the great blue turaco is a common bird species throughout central African forests, this is the first study to characterize the species' movement ecology using telemetry. The observed individual variation in movement and habitat use underscores the need to track a broader range of species in central African landscapes, which are increasingly threatened by hunting, logging, habitat loss, and climate change.},

note = {_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/btp.70153},

keywords = {accelerometer, African, Animal movement, Backpack, behavior, biodiversity, bird, Bird Solar, Flight behaviour, Flying, Forest, frugivore, home range, movement ecology, Space use, Step Selection Function, telemetry},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{tekam_habitat_2026-1,

title = {Habitat Selection and Seed Dispersal by the Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata) in the Rainforests of Southern Cameroon},

author = {Antoine S. A. Tekam and Nicholas J. Russo and Bonaventure Sonk\'{e} and Vincent Deblauwe and Docas L. Nshom and Nicolas Barbier and Ant\'{o}nio Ferraz and Sassan Saatchi and Martin Wikelski and Elsa M. Ordway and Thomas B. Smith},

url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/btp.70153},

doi = {10.1111/btp.70153},

issn = {1744-7429},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

urldate = {2026-02-27},

journal = {Biotropica},

volume = {58},

number = {1},

pages = {e70153},

abstract = {Tropical rainforests are biodiversity hotspots, where the seeds of 60%\textendash90% of trees are dispersed by animals, yet movement data needed to understand the behaviors and habitat selection of tropical frugivores remain scarce. We GPS-tracked four great blue turacos (Corythaeola cristata) in the Dja Faunal Reserve of southern Cameroon and predicted spatial patterns of seed dispersal within each bird's home range, which covered up to 2.33 km2. Using integrated Step Selection Analyses, we related turaco movements to LiDAR-derived measurements of 3D vegetation structure and habitat type. One individual preferred areas of tall canopy height, whereas one preferred intermediate canopy height and avoided swamps and areas of greater vertical vegetation complexity. Seed dispersal patterns for the two turacos with the largest home ranges were predicted to be more diffuse, with local maxima almost an order of magnitude smaller than those with smaller home ranges. Although the great blue turaco is a common bird species throughout central African forests, this is the first study to characterize the species' movement ecology using telemetry. The observed individual variation in movement and habitat use underscores the need to track a broader range of species in central African landscapes, which are increasingly threatened by hunting, logging, habitat loss, and climate change.},

note = {_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/btp.70153},

keywords = {biodiversity, corythaeola cristata, frugivore, great blue turaco, home range, movement ecology, Step Selection Function},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{hofmann_methods_2024,

title = {Methods for implementing integrated step-selection functions with incomplete data},

author = {David D. Hofmann and Gabriele Cozzi and John Fieberg},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-024-00476-8},

doi = {10.1186/s40462-024-00476-8},

issn = {2051-3933},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-05-01},

urldate = {2026-01-27},

journal = {Movement Ecology},

volume = {12},

number = {1},

pages = {37},

abstract = {Integrated step-selection analyses (iSSAs) are versatile and powerful frameworks for studying habitat and movement preferences of tracked animals. iSSAs utilize integrated step-selection functions (iSSFs) to model movements in discrete time, and thus, require animal location data that are regularly spaced in time. However, many real-world datasets are incomplete due to tracking devices failing to locate an individual at one or more scheduled times, leading to slight irregularities in the duration between consecutive animal locations. To address this issue, researchers typically only consider bursts of regular data (i.e., sequences of locations that are equally spaced in time), thereby reducing the number of observations used to model movement and habitat selection. We reassess this practice and explore four alternative approaches that account for temporal irregularity resulting from missing data. Using a simulation study, we compare these alternatives to a baseline approach where temporal irregularity is ignored and demonstrate the potential improvements in model performance that can be gained by leveraging these additional data. We also showcase these benefits using a case study on a spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta).},

keywords = {Animal movement, GPS data, Imputation, Incomplete data, integrated, integrated Step selection function, iSSF, Missing fixes, SSF, Step Selection Function, Step-selection analyses, Step-selection functions},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}