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A spatially varying stochastic differential equation model for animal movement

James C. Russell, Ephraim M. Hanks, Murali Haran, David Hughes

The Annals of Applied Statistics · 2018 · Volume 12 · Issue 2

DOI: 10.1214/17-AOAS1113

Abstract

Animal movement exhibits complex behavior which can be influenced by unobserved environmental conditions. We propose a model which allows for a spatially varying movement rate and spatially varying drift through a semiparametric potential surface and a separate motility surface. These surfaces are embedded in a stochastic differential equation framework which allows for complex animal movement patterns in space. The resulting model is used to analyze the spatially varying behavior of ants to provide insight into the spatial structure of ant movement in the nest.

Keywords

animal movement, Camponotus pennsylvanicus, potential surface, Stochastic differential equations

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