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Koalas in continuous time – unravelling the movement ecology of an iconic species using insights from a statewide telemetry program
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DOI：10.1186/s40462-026-00693-3.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Movement ecology has entered an era of unprecedented data abundance, yet contemporary GPS datasets present analytical challenges due to temporal autocorrelation between consecutive locations. Continuous-time movement modelling (CTMM) addresses these challenges by treating movement as a stochastic process unfolding continuously through space and time, producing parameter estimates of movement metrics that are invariant to sampling schedule. Here we apply CTMM to a comprehensive GPS telemetry dataset from 230 koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) tracked across seven populations throughout New South Wales, Australia – a first for this species at scale. Our primary aim was to characterise fundamental movement attributes and provide evidence-based recommendations for telemetry study design in this threatened species. All koala datasets exhibited clear evidence of autocorrelation, and we observed substantial variation in home range size and diffusion rates among study regions, consistent with broad environmental gradients spanning productive coastal and riparian habitats to drier, fragmented inland landscapes. Despite 7–10 fold variation in home range size and diffusion rates at a population level, the temporal structure of koala movement was remarkably consistent across all populations. Range crossing times and directional persistence timescales showed little regional variation, suggesting these timescales reflect intrinsic biological constraints rather than being driven by local environmental conditions. Sexual dimorphism in space use and movement rates was also consistent across all regions: male home ranges were approximately twice the size of females regardless of local habitat conditions, and males consistently moved throughout broader areas each day. These autocorrelation timescales have important implications for telemetry study design and broader monitoring programs. Irrespective of sampling frequency, the slow range crossing time of koalas indicates that deployments of at least 3–5 weeks are necessary for reliable home range estimation. Directional persistence timescales suggest fix intervals under three hours are required to resolve fine-scale movement behaviors such as speed and distance travelled. When identifying contact events between individuals is an objective, high resolution sampling (i.e. 30 min or less) is required. This study demonstrates how CTMM can extract fundamental movement parameters from GPS data to simultaneously address autocorrelation in movement trajectories, advance ecological understanding and optimize future monitoring efforts for threatened species. Not applicable.
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