Sex-specific resource strategies mediate home range sizes of an endangered carnivore across multiple scales

Home ranges reflect a trade-off between the costs and benefits associated with acquiring resources and are influenced by complex interactions among intrinsic and extrinsic factors. These factors can lead to different spatial and temporal patterns to acquire the necessary resources that meet energetic and reproductive needs. Identifying the drivers of these strategies concurrently across spatiotemporal scales remains rare but is essential for identifying landscape constraints on populations in rapidly changing systems. We examined spatiotemporal drivers of home range size of the federally endangered ocelot (Leopardus pardalis; [22 Males, 12 Females]) in the two remaining populations in the USA. Males increased home range size during reproductive periods while females constrained their home range, but increased in size to match the demands of reproduction. Habitat complexity and the associated prey diversity and abundance were related to smaller home range size. Our results suggest that home range variation is a response to environmental conditions and annual changes in life history. Sex-specific drivers of home range size across space and time-in the context of habitat loss, shifting climate patterns, and changing resource productivity-can help identify management and habitat restoration targets for small and declining populations.