An IKONOS-based comparison of methods to estimate cattle home ranges in a semi-arid landscape of southern Africa.

Zengeya, Fadzai; Murwira, Amon; de Garine-Wichatitsky, M.

We estimated home range (HR) and core areas of cattle herds in a semi-arid rangeland in southern Africa using the fixed kernel and the local convex hull (LoCoH) methods. We also compared the HR values of the two methods with the aid of high spatial resolution IKONOS imagery. We also compared area estimates determined by the two methods at different probability contours of the utilization distribution (UD). Results showed that the LoCoH performed better than the kernel method in estimating UD. We found significant (p < 0.05) differences concerning the area estimated at each probability contour of the UD between the fixed kernel and LoCoH methods. However, both methods produced similar land cover preferences within the HR and core areas. Based on IKONOS-imagery-aided evaluation, our results imply that LoCoH determines core areas in HR analysis better than the kernel method, while both methods can be used in preference analysis.

SOUTH Africa; HOME range (Animal geography); REMOTE sensing; LANDSCAPES; KERNEL functions; LAND cover

International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2011, Vol 32, Issue 22, p7805

0143-1161

Academic Journal

10.1080/01431161.2010.527866