@article{gunner_high_2026,

title = {High resolution data reveal fundamental steps and turns in animal movements},

author = {Richard M. Gunner and Rory P. Wilson and Miguel Lurgi and Luca B\"{o}rger and James Redcliffe and Emily L. C. Shepard and Mark D. Holton and Margaret C. Crofoot and Abdulaziz Alagaili and Samantha Andrzejaczek and Daniel Ariano‐S\'{a}nchez and Thomas Barbedette‐Gerard and Nigel C. Bennett and Alice Bernard and Rowan Brown and Nik Cole and Scott Creel and Ariovaldo P. Cruz‐Neto and Agustina Di Virgilio and Carlos M. Duarte and Christophe Eizaguirre and Kyle H. Elliott and Monika Faltusova and Mathieu Garel and Natasha Gillies and Adrian C. Gleiss and Aoife G\"{o}ppert and David Gr\'{e}millet and Sophie De Grissac and Tim Guilford and Maxime Hoareau and Mark Jessopp and Agustina G\'{o}mez‐Laich and Milos Jezek and Sergio A. Lambertucci and Pascal Marchand and Nikki Marks and Andr\'{e}ia Martins and Mark Meekan and Yuichi Mizutani and Rasmus M. Mortensen and Bradley M. Norman and Josue Ortega and Oliver Padget and Michael Painter and Aurore Ponchon and Pascal Provost and Aur\'{e}lien Prudor and Flavio Quintana and Stefanie Reinhardt and Samantha D. Reynolds and Frank Rosell and Carlos R. Ruiz‐Miranda and Peter G. Ryan and David M. Scantlebury and Stefan Schoombie and Rebecca Scott and Vaclav Silovsky and Jeroen Steenbeek and Vikash Tatayah and Carole To\"{i}go and Lucia Torrez and Fred Tremblay and Joshua P. Twining and Ken Yoda and Henri Weimerskirch and Shannon Whelan and Juan M. Morales and Jonathan R. Potts},

url = {https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecm.70069},

doi = {10.1002/ecm.70069},

issn = {0012-9615, 1557-7015},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-05-01},

urldate = {2026-05-01},

journal = {Ecological Monographs},

volume = {96},

number = {2},

pages = {e70069},

abstract = {Abstract 

 Animal movement paths display substantial complexity and variability, promoting efforts to identify universal rules and models that best describe them. Using high‐resolution (≥10 Hz) movement from 43 vertebrate species spanning diverse taxa, body sizes, and lifestyles, we show that paths are universally composed of straight‐line steps interspersed with sharp turns, echoing patterns documented in lower taxa such as bacteria. We report how vertebrate “fundamental steps”\textemdashstraight travel segments between successive detected turns (with 

 F 

 stepduration 

 as the turn‐to‐turn interval and 

 F 

 steplength 

 as the corresponding distance when displacement is available)\textemdashand “fundamental turn angles” ( 

 F 

 turnangles 

 ; net changes in travel heading between successive steps) vary with species\' mass, locomotor mode, behavior, and environment. Here, “fundamental” denotes the finest scale step/turn events resolvable under our sampling rate and turn‐detection criteria; these event‐scale steps/turns are intrinsically different from the straight‐line segments inferred from low‐resolution position data. To explain these relationships, we posit that animals inherently move in a straight line until sensory information signals a better heading, triggering a turn. Across all species examined, animals spent the vast majority of their travel time moving in straight lines (species‐level means \>90%), with turns representing discrete decision points influenced by body size, locomotor mode, and ecological context. Larger animals turned less frequently, consistent with biomechanical constraints of mass and rotational inertia, while aerial species often exhibited higher turning rates driven by soaring flight demands. We further show that turns can be linked to diverse behavioral drivers, including prey pursuit, obstacle avoidance, predator evasion, and exploitation of environmental energy. By explicitly quantifying turns, we clarify how distributions of step durations and turn angles interact to shape movement patterns and why different statistical models (e.g., correlated random walks, L\'{e}vy flights) emerge when lower resolution data are analyzed. Finally, we demonstrate how fundamental steps and turns can be incorporated into an agent‐based modeling framework using penguins as a case study, enabling reconstruction of realistic tracks and prediction of movement responses to environmental change. Straight‐line travel punctuated by decision‐driven turns thus emerges as a fundamental principle of vertebrate movement, linking fine‐scale movement structure, ecological context, and emergent patterns of space use.},

keywords = {behaviour, Ecospace, IBM, niche modelling},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{10.3389/fmars.2020.00622,

title = {Current and Future Influence of Environmental Factors on Small Pelagic Fish Distributions in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea},

author = {M. Grazia-Pennino and M. Coll and M. Albo-Puigserver and E. Fern\'{a}ndez-Corredor and J. Steenbeek and A. Gir\'{a}ldez and M. Gonz\'{a}lez and A. Esteban and J. M. Bellido},

url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00622},

doi = {10.3389/fmars.2020.00622},

issn = {2296-7745},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-07-24},

journal = {Frontiers in Marine Science},

volume = {7},

pages = {622},

abstract = {In the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea, the European sardine (Sardina pilchardus) and the European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) are the most important small pelagic fish in terms of biomass and commercial interest. During the last years, these species have experimented changes in their abundance and biomass trends in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea, in addition to changes in growth, reproduction and body condition. These species are particularly sensitive to environmental fluctuations with possible cascading effects as they play a key role in connecting the lower and upper trophic levels of marine food webs. It is therefore essential to understand the factors that most profoundly affect sardine and anchovy dynamics. This study used a two-step approach to understand how the environment influences the adult stages of these species in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. First, we explored the effects of environmental change over time using Random Forests and available datasets of species occurrence, abundance, biomass and landings. We then applied species distribution models to test the impact of the extreme pessimistic and optimistic Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) pathway scenarios, and to identify possible climate refuges: areas where these species may be able to persist under future environmental change. Findings from the temporal modeling showed mixed effects between environmental variables and for anchovy and sardine datasets. Future pathway projections highlight that both anchovy and sardine will undergo a reduction in their spatial distributions due to future climate conditions. The future climate refuges are the waters around the Rhone River (France) and the Ebro River (Spain) for both species. This study also highlights important knowledge gaps in our understanding of the dynamics of small pelagic fish in the region, which is needed to progress towards an ecosystem approach to fisheries management.},

keywords = {Bayesian model, niche modelling, NW Mediterranean, regional study, small pelagic fish},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}