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We compared the Fourier series, harmonic mean, minimum convex polygon, and 2 95% ellipse home-range estimators using computer-simulated data with a known home-range area. Data were generated to simulate home ranges with 1 or 2 centers of activity and with topographic barriers causing irregular shapes. Estimators performed with different precision and bias according to the type of data simulated and the number of observations taken. Overall, the harmonic mean was the least biased, but was also one of the least precise. Home-range estimators are only general measures of animal activity. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 54(2):310-315 Many statistical home-range estimators have been proposed. All have different underlying models (assumptions) providing different operating characteristics and therefore can produce dissimilar results for a specific set of data. Rarely have the statistical properties of these estimators been compared or have guidelines on the selection of a specific estimator for a particular set of data been proposed. Application of different estimators produces confusion in the interpretation of home-range estimates because some of the differences observed between studies are due to the estimators themselves, and not to the behavior of the animals being studied. We used computer simulated data to address the differences among estimators by comparing 3 nonparametric estimators: harmonic mean (Dixon and Chapman 1980), Fourier series (Anderson 1982), and minimum convex polygon (Mohr 1947); and 2 parametric estimators: 95% ellipse estimators of Jennrich and Turner (1969) and Koeppl et al. (1975). Two types of animal movements were simulated: (1) an animal with a center of activity (e.g., a nesting bird) and (2) an animal with a uniform distribution (no center of activity). Data from a normal distribution were used to simulate center-of-activity movements, and data from a uniform distribution were used for movements without a center of activity. In addition, home ranges with irregular This content downloaded from 207.46.13.114 on Thu, 26 May 2016 06:08:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms J. Wildl. Manage. 54(2):1990 HOME-RANGE ESTIMATORS * Boulanger and White 311 shapes, as would be caused by topographic barriers and/or habitat heterogeneity, were simulated. Advantages of using computer-simulated data are that a true home range is known, and thus bias and precision of each estimator can be evaluated. The statistical properties of an estimator cannot be determined with field telemetry data because true replicate observations cannot be constructed. Replicated, simulated data sets also allow powerful statistical comparisons of esti-
Boulanger et al. (1990) studied this question.