The Effect of Statistically Based Models on Home Range Size Estimate in Uta stansburiana

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Abstract
Recapture data from the side-blotched lizard [U. stansburiana (Iguanidae)] from western Colorado [USA] were analyzed using 5 different home range models. Statistical models consistently yielded home range estimates significantly larger than those calculated with nonstatistical models. The principal differences in the estimates are due to the fact that the statistical methods assign a probability finding an animal where that animal was never observed. The inherent assumptions of statistical models, concerning the probabilistic distributions of animals in the environment, may be biologically naive. Such methods probably should be avoided in comparisons of home range sizes between populations of species.