Old tricks-new opportunities: combining telemetry ellipses and landscape metrics to assess habitat spatial structure

Context Confidence ellipses are areas derived from telemetry data that can be used to assess daily habitat use when integrated with land cover spatial structure. Our goal was to assess the feasibility of using confidence ellipses derived from telemetry data to assess landscape structure. Objectives Our objectives were (1) to identify the geometry of confidence ellipses that can be used in landscape level studies; and (2) to quantify landscape structure within confidence ellipses derived from telemetry data. We used Rio Grande wild turkeys ( Meleagris gallopavo intermedia ) as our model species. Methods We simulated landscapes and clipped them using known confidence ellipse shapes. We then compared the clipped areas with values measured for our simulated landscapes using landscape metrics that describe landscape structure. We used these results to select ellipse derived from telemetry data to evaluate landscape structure used by wild turkeys during the breeding and wintering seasons in South Texas. Results Ellipses with a low x/y ratio (