Uncovering periodic patterns of space use in animal tracking data with periodograms including a new algorithm for the Lomb-Scargle periodogram and improved randomization tests

摘要

BackgroundPeriodicity in activity level (rest/activity cycles) is ubiquitous in nature, but whether and how these periodicities translate into periodic patterns of space use by animals is much less documented. Here we introduce an analytical protocol based on the Lomb-Scargle periodogram (LSP) to facilitate exploration of animal tracking datasets for periodic patterns. The LSP accommodates missing observations and variation in the sampling intervals of the location time series.