Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Available blocks of time and their duration also impact travel patterns (Harvey
2008
; Forer et al.
2007
). For example, if one wants to travel to the theatre for a
play that lasts 2 h from 6 to 8 pm, one needs at least a 2-h block of free time at the
right time. Otherwise, even if 2 h are available during the day (say, one hour in the
morning and one in the afternoon), but not scheduled together at the right time,
the theatre visit cannot occur.
Temporal cycles impose significant effects on movement patterns. The move-
ment cycles of humans exhibit a strong weekly periodicity due to 5-day working
weeks, whereas the movement patterns of animals (especially those inhabiting
areas outside of the tropics) are heavily influenced by seasonal cycles.
Spatial constraints are limitations on access to spaces of interest imposed by
physical objects, e.g., road networks, or natural barriers. Such objects apply a
'firm' constraint on the paths and/or extent of movements (Dodge et al.
2008
). The
routes and range of human movements in automobiles usually are constrained by
the layout of transport networks, while the extent of animal movements frequently
are restricted by physical barriers such as ecotones, coastlines, or rivers.
Environmental constraints such as weather, spatial distribution of resources and
predators, population density of conspecifics, and disturbances may impose what
are known as 'soft' limitations on movement. Elk (Cervus elaphus) turn more
frequently and move shorter distances while foraging within patches with high
resource abundance compared to when moving among patches (Fryxell et al.
2008
). Crickets travelling through corridors (linear landscape elements) move
straighter but slower than in resource patches as a means of reducing exposure to
predators (Berggren et al.
2002
).
2.3 Commentary
The factors influencing movement which are discussed above are not exhaustive;
nevertheless, clearly there are many elements which must be considered when
exploring the reasons behind patterns of movement of humans and animals. While
identification of these factors can be very challenging, geovisual analytics provides
a powerful means of exploring and comprehending rich and complex movement
phenomena (Andrienko and Andrienko
2007
). The many shared fundamental
motivating factors between the movements of humans and animals suggest that it
should be possible to adapt some of the visualisation techniques originally
developed for the movements of humans to the movements of animals. However,
because the nature of animal-movement data is quite different from that of
humans, modification of specific aspects of these techniques may be needed. To
develop the modification strategy of the geovisualisation toolset for the move-
ments of possums, it is necessary to first understand the lifestyle of possums.
