Analysing animal movement in the marine environment

 

The study of animal movement—the change in spatial location over time—is fundamental to understanding many ecological and evolutionary research questions. Recent advances in biologging and biotelemetry have transformed movement ecology, providing new insights into animal movement patterns. Simultaneously, sophisticated statistical and mathematical methods have been developed to analyze this data. These tools allow researchers to predict species movements better and understand habitat use in multiple dimensions, providing crucial insights to locate "hotspots" where species are most vulnerable to threats and informing the design of effective conservation measures and dynamic management strategies.

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Therefore, there is an urgent need to communicate and integrate these advanced methods within the scientific community, particularly among marine ecologists. Despite the potential of these tools, they are not yet widely adopted in marine research, partly due to the unique complexities of studying oceanic environments and the specialized knowledge required to handle movement data effectively. This workshop aims to address this gap, offering marine ecologists a practical introduction to cutting-edge techniques while fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration. By equipping participants with advanced tools and insights, we aim to expand the use of innovative methods for analyzing marine species' movement and habitat use.

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The workshop will guide participants through movement data processing and analysis stages. We will examine various data processing and analysis stages under the guidance of four leading researchers—John Fieberg, Marie Auger-Méthé, Brett McClintock and Inês Silva. The workshop will cover advanced statistical techniques such as State Space Models, Hidden Markov Models, Home Range Analysis, Resource Selection Functions and Step Selection Functions. We will investigate different analytical approaches to model movements in discrete and continuous time. Special attention will be given to selecting and using the most appropriate analytical tools to address the unique challenges of studying marine species.

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This comprehensive workshop spans five days, offering participants a diverse and engaging program. The first four days are dedicated to an open forum accessible to the broader scientific community, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange across disciplines. During this period, attendees will be able to explore cutting-edge research, methodologies, and applications in animal movement ecology within marine environments. The workshop's final day will focus on specific applications and challenges when working in the marine environment (such as data missingness or non-homogenous data collection intervals) and potential new methods that could be used to solve these challenges.