Appendix S1. Supplementary Information.
Table S1. List of all ecological studies included in the analysis of reported linkages between prevailing
energy availability (primary productivity as indexed by NDVI-based metrics) and mammal and bird
ecological processes (abundance, distribution and life histories).
Abundance
(studies
examining
abundance,
biomass, density,
population size
fluctuations)
Andreo, V., Lima, M., Provensal, C., Priotto, J. & Polop, J. (2009a) Population dynamics of
two rodent species in agro-ecosystems of central Argentina: Intra-specific competition,
land-use, and climate effects. Population Ecology, 51, 297-306.
Andreo, V., Provensal, C., Scavuzzo, M., Lamfri, M. & Polop, J. (2009b) Environmental
factors and population fluctuations of Akodon azarae (Muridae: Sigmodontinae) in
central Argentina. Austral Ecology, 34, 132-142.
Berryman, A. & Lima, M. (2006) Deciphering the effects of climate on animal populations:
Diagnostic analysis provides new interpretation of soay sheep dynamics. American
Naturalist, 168, 784-795.
Bierman, S.M., Fairbairn, J.P., Petty, S.J., Elston, D.A., Tidhar, D. & Lambin, X. (2006)
Changes over time in the spatiotemporal dynamics of cyclic populations of field voles
(Mictros agrestis L.). American Naturalist, 167, 583-590.
Blomberg, E.J., Sedinger, J.S., Atamian, M.T. & Nonne, D.V. (2012) Characteristics of
climate and landscape disturbance influence the dynamics of greater sage-grouse
populations. Ecosphere, 3, art55.
Bro-Jørgensen, J., Brown, M.E. & Pettorelli, N. (2009) Using the satellite-derived
normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to explain ranging patterns in a lekbreeding antelope: The importance of scale. Oecologia, 158, 177-182.
Brown, G.S. (2011) Patterns and causes of demographic variation in a harvested moose
population: Evidence for the effects of climate and density-dependent drivers. Journal of
Animal Ecology, 80, 1288-1298.
Chamaille-Jammes, S., Valiex, M. & Fritz, H. (2007) Managing heterogeneity in elephant
distribution: Interactions between elephant population density and surface-water
availability. Journal of Applied Ecology, 44, 625-633.
Dou, H., Jiang, H. & Stott, P. (2013) Climate change impacts populations dynamics and
distribution shift of moose (Alces alces) in Heilongjiang Province of China. Ecological
Research, 28, 615-632.
Martínez-Jauregui, M., Miguel-Ayanz, A.S., Mysterud, A., Rodríguez-Vigal, C.,
Clutton-Brock, T., Langvatn, R. & Coulson, T. (2009) Are local weather,
NDVI and NAO consistent determinants of red deer weight across three contrasting
European countries? Global Change Biology, 15, 1727-1738.
Polop, F., Provensal, M.C., Priotto, J., Steinmann, A. & Polop, J.J. (2013) Differential effects
of climate, environment, and land use on two sympatric species of Akodon. Studies on
Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 47, 147-156.
Trimble, M.J., Ferreira, S.M. & van Aarde, R.J. (2009) Drivers of megaherbivore
demographic fluctuations: inference from elephants. Journal of the Zoological Society of
London, 279, 18–26.
Wilson, S., LaDeau, S.L., Tøttrup, A.P. & Marra, P.P. (2011) Range-wide effects of
breeding- and nonbreeding-season climate on the abundance of a Neotropical migrant
songbird. Ecology, 92, 1789–1798.
Wood, E.M., Pidgeon, A.M., Radeloff, V.C. & Keuler, N.S. (2013) Image texture predicts
avian density and species richness. PLoS ONE, 8, e63211.
Distribution
(studies
examining
space-use,
occurrence,
migration routes
and home
ranges)
Ausband, D., Mitchell, M.S., Doherty, K., Zager, P., Mack, C.M. & Holyman, J. (2010)
Surveying predicted rendezvous sites to monitor gray wolf populations. Journal of
Wildlife Management, 74, 1043-1049.
Bashir, T., Bhattacharva, T., Poudval, K., Sathvakumar, S. & Oureshi, O. (2013).
Integrating aspects of ecology and predictive modelling: implications for the
conservation of the leopard cat ( Prionailurus bengalensis ) in the Eastern Himalaya.
Acta Theriologica , 59, 35-37.
Beck, P.S.A., Wand, T.J., Skidmore, A.K. & Liu, X.H. (2008) Displaying remotely sensed
vegetation dynamics along natural gradients for ecological studies. International Journal
of Remote Sensing, 29, 4277–4283.
Bhola, N., Ogutu, J.O., Said, M.Y., Piepho, H.-P. & Olff, H. (2012) The distribution of large
herbivore hotspots in relation to environmental and anthropogenic correlates in the
Mara region of Kenya. Journal of Animal Ecology, 81, 1268-1287.
Bischof, R., Loe, L.E., Meisingset, E.L., Zimmermann, B., van Moorter, B. & Mysterud, A.
(2012) A migratory northern ungulate in the pursuit of spring: jumping or surfing the
green wave? American Naturalist, 180, 407-424.
Boone, R.B., Thirgood, S.J. & Hopcraft, G.C. (2006) Serengeti wildebeest migratory
patterns modelled from rainfall and new vegetation growth. Ecology, 87, 1987-1994.
Braunisch, V., Patthey, P. & Arlettaz, R. (2011) Spatially explicit modelling of conflict
zones between wildlife and snow sports: Prioritizing areas for winter refuges. Ecological
Applications, 21, 955-967.
Burton, A.C., Sam, M.K., Balangtaa, C. & Brashares, J. (2012) Hierarchical multi-species
modelling of carnivore responses to hunting, habitat and prey in a West African
protected area. PLoS ONE, 7, e38007.
Carroll, C., Noss, R.F. & Paquet, P.C. (2001) Carnivores as focal species for conservation
planning in the Rocky Mountain region. Ecological Applications, 11, 961-980.
Colchero, F., Conde, D.A., Manterola, C., Chávez, C., Rivera, A. & Ceballos, G. (2011) Jaguars
on the move: Modelling movement to mitigate fragmentation from road expansion in the
Mayan forest. Animal Conservation, 14, 158-166.
Cornélis, D., Benhamou, S., Janeau, G., Morellet, N., Ouedraogo, M. & de Visscher, M.-N.
(2011) Spatiotemporal dynamics of forage and water resources shape space use of West
African savanna buffalos. Journal of Mammalogy, 92, 1287-1297.
Donald, P.F., Gedeon, K., Collar, N.J., Spottiswoode, C.N., Wondafrash, M. & Buchanan, G.M.
(2012) The restricted range of the Ethiopian Bush-crow Zavattariornis stresemanni is a
consequence of high reliance on modified habitats within narrow climatic limits. Journal
of Ornithology, 153, 1031-1044.
Griffith, J.A., Martinko, E.A., Whistler, J.L. & Price, K.P. (2002) Interrelationships among
landscapes, NDVI, and stream water quality in the U.S. Central Plains. Ecological
Applications, 12, 1702–1718.
Hebblewhite, M., Merrill, E. & McDermid, G. (2008) A multi-scale test of the forage
maturation hypothesis in a partially migratory ungulate population. Ecological
Monographs, 78, 141–166.
Horne, J.S., Gartona, E.O. & Rachlowa, J.L. (2008) A synoptic model of animal space use:
Simultaneous estimation of home range, habitat selection, and inter/intra-specific
relationships. Ecological Modelling, 214, 338-348.
Ito, T.Y., Miura, N., Lhagvasuren, B., Enkhbileg, D., Takatsuki, S., Tsunekawa, A. & Jiang, Z.
(2006) Satellite tracking of Mongolian gazelles (Procapra gutturosa) and habitat shifts in
their seasonal ranges. Journal of the Zoological Society of London, 269, 291–298.
Kallee, R., Ramesh, T., Qureshi, Q. & Sankar, K. (2013) Predicting the distribution pattern
of small carnivores in response to environmental factors in the Western Ghats. PLoS
ONE, 811, e79295.
Marshal, J.P., Bleich, V.C., Krausman, P.R., Reed, M.L. & Andrew, N.G. (2006) Factors
affecting habitat use and distribution of desert mule deer in an arid environment.
Wildlife Society Bulletin, 34, 609–619.
Modal, K., Sankar, K. & Qureshi, Q. (2013) Factors influencing the distribution of leopard
in a semiarid landscape of Western India. Acta Theriologica, 58, 179-187.
Pittiglio, C., Skidmore, A.K., van Gils, H.A.M.J. & Prins H.H.T. (2012) Identifying transit
corridors for elephant using a long time-series. International Journal of Applied Earth
Observation and Geoinformation, 14, 61-72.
Roger, E., Laffan, S.W. & Ramp, D. (2007) Habitat selection by the common wombat
(Vombatus ursinus) in disturbed environments: Implications for the conservation of a
'common' species. Biological Conservation, 137, 437-449.
Ryan, S.J., Knechtel, C.U. & Getz, W.M. (2006) Range and habitat selection of African
buffalo in South Africa. Journal of Wildlife Management, 70, 764–776.
Saveraid, E.H., Debinski, D.M., Kindscher, K. & Jakubauskas, M.E. (2001) A comparison of
satellite data and landscape variables in predicting bird species occurrences in the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, USA. Landscape Ecology, 16, 71-83.
Sawyer, H. & Kauffman, M.J. (2011) Stopover ecology of a migratory ungulate. Journal of
Animal Ecology, 80, 1078–1087.
Singh, N.J., Grachev, I.A., Bekenov, A.B. & Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2010a) Tracking greenery
across a latitudinal gradient in central Asia—the migration of the saiga antelope.
Diversity and Distributions, 16, 663–675.
Singh, N.J., Yoccoz, N.G., Lecomte, N., Côté, S.D. & Foxa, J.L. (2010b) Scale and selection of
habitat and resources: Tibetan argali (Ovis ammon hodgsoni) in high-altitude
rangelands. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 88, 436-447.
Squires, J.R., DeCesare, N.J., Olson, L.E., Kolbe, J.A. & Hebblewhite, M. (2013) Combining
resource selection and movement behavior to predict corridors for Canada lynx at their
southern range periphery. Biological Conservation, 157, 187-195.
Steyaert, S.M.J.G., Støem, O.-E., Elfström, M., Karlsson, J., van Lammeren, R.V., Bokdam, J.,
Zedrosser, A., Brunberg, S. & Swenson, J.E. (2011) Resource selection by sympatric freeranging dairy cattle and brown bears Ursus arctos. Wildlife Biology, 17, 389-403.
Steyaert, S.M.J.G., Kindgerg, J., Swenson, J.E. & Zedrosser, A. (2013) Male reproductive
strategy explains spatiotemporal segregation in brown bears. Journal of Animal Ecology,
82, 836-845.
Wall, J., Wittemyer, G., Klinkenberg, B., LeMay, V. & Douglas-Hamilton, I. (2013)
Characterizing properties and drivers of long distance movements by elephants
(Loxodonta africana) in Gourma, Mali. Biological Conservation, 157, 60-68.
Wiegand, T., Naves, J., Garbulsky, M.F. & Fernandez, N. (2008) Animal habitat quality and
ecosystem functioning: exploring seasonal patterns using NDVI. Ecological Monographs,
78, 87–103.
Willems, E.P., Barton, R.A. & Hill, R.A. (2009) Remotely sensed productivity, regional
home range selection, and local range use by an omnivorous primate. Behavioural
Ecology, 20, 985–992.
Winnie, J.A., Cross, P. & Getz, W.M. (2008) Habitat quality and heterogeneity influence
distribution and behaviour in African buffalo. Ecology, 89, 1457–1468.
Wittemyer, G., Polansky, L., Douglas-Hamilton, I. & Getz, W.M. (2008) Disentangling the
effects of forage, social rank, and risk on movement autocorrelation of elephants using
Fourier and wavelet analyses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the
USA, 105, 19108-19113.
Zinner, D., Peláez, F. & Torkler, F. (2001) Distribution and habitat associations of
baboons (Papio hamadryas) in central Eritrea. International Journal of Primatology, 22,
397-413.
Zinner, D., Peláez, F. & Torkler, F. (2002) Distribution and habitat of grivet monkeys
(Cercopithecus aethiops aethiops) in eastern and central Eritrea. African Journal of
Ecology, 40, 151-158.
Life histories
(studies
examining
survival and
longevity,
number of
offspring
produced and
recruitment,
body mass and
length, and fat
deposition and
content)
Blomberg, E.J., Sedinger, J.S., Atamian, M.T. & Nonne, D.V. (2012) Characteristics of
climate and landscape disturbance influence the dynamics of greater sage-grouse
populations. Ecosphere, 3, art55.
Bourbeau-Lemieux, A., Festa-Bianchet, M., Gaillard, J.-M. & Pelletier, F. (2011) Predatordriven component Allee effects in a wild ungulate. Ecology Letters, 14, 358–363.
Brown, G.S. (2011) Patterns and causes of demographic variation in a harvested moose
population: Evidence for the effects of climate and density-dependent drivers. Journal of
Animal Ecology, 80, 1288-1298.
Durant, J.M., Hjermann, D.Ø., Anker-Nilssen, T., Beaugrand, G., Coulson, T., Pettorelli, N. &
Stenseth, N.C. (2005) Timing and abundance as key mechanisms affecting trophic
interactions in variable environments. Ecology Letters, 8, 952–958.
Garel, M., Gaillard, J.-M., Jullien, J.-M., Dubray, D., Maillard, D. & Loison, A. (2011)
Population abundance and early spring conditions determine variation in body mass of
juvenile chamois. Journal of Mammalogy, 92, 1112-1117.
Grande, J.H., Serrano, D., Tavecchia, G., Carrete, M., Ceballos, O., Díaz-Delgado, R., Tella, J.L.
& Donázar, J.A. (2008) Survival in a long-lived territorial migrant: Effects of life-history
traits and ecological conditions in wintering and breeding areas. Oikos, 118, 580-590.
Griffith, J.A., Martinko, E.A., Whistler, J.L. & Price, K.P. (2002) Interrelationships among
landscapes, NDVI, and stream water quality in the U.S. Central Plains. Ecological
Applications, 12, 1702–1718.
Hamel, S., Garel, M., Festa-Bianchet, M., Gaillard, J.-M. & Côté, S.D. (2009) Spring
normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) predicts annual variation in timing of
peak faecal crude protein in mountain ungulates. Journal of Applied Ecology, 46, 582–
589.
Hamel, S., Côté, S.D. & Festa-Bianchet, M. (2010) Maternal characteristics and
environment affect the costs of reproduction in female mountain goats. Ecology, 91,
2034-2043.
Melis, C., Herfindal, I., Kauhala, K., Andersen, R. & Høgda, K.A. (2010) Predicting animal
performance through climatic and plant phenology variables: the case of an omnivore
hibernating species in Finland. Mammalian Biology, 75, 151–159.
Møller, A.P. & Szép, T. (2005) Rapid evolutionary change in a secondary sexual character
linked to climatic change. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 18, 481–495.
Mysterud, A., Tryjanowski, P., Panek, M., Pettorelli, N. & Stenseth, N.C. (2007) Interspecific synchrony of two contrasting ungulates: wild boar and roe deer. Oecologia, 151,
232–239.
Mysterud, A., Yoccoz, N.G., Langvatn, R., Pettorelli, N. & Stenseth, N.C. (2008) Hierarchical
path analysis of deer responses to direct and indirect effects of climate in northern forest.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Series B: Biological Sciences, 363, 2359–
2368.
Pettorelli, N., Mysterud, A., Yoccoz, N.G., Langvatn, R. & Stenseth, N.C. (2005) Importance
of climatological downscaling and plant phenology for red deer in heterogeneous
landscapes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 272, 2357-2364.
Pettorelli, N., Pelletier, F., Von Hardenberg, A., Festa-Bianchet, M. & Côté, S.D. (2007)
Early onset of vegetation growth versus rapid green-up: impacts on juvenile mountain
ungulates. Ecology, 88, 381–390.
Posse, G. & Cingolani, A.M. (2004) A test of the use of NDVI data to predict secondary
productivity. Applied Vegetation Science, 7, 201–208.
Rasmussen, H.B., Wittemyer, G. & Douglas-Hamilton, I. (2006) Predicting time-specific
changes in demographic processes using remote-sensing data. Journal of Applied
Ecology, 43, 366–376.
Saino, N., Szép, T., Ambrosini, R., Romano, M. & Møller, A.P. (2004) Ecological conditions
during winter affect sexual selection and breeding in a migratory bird. Proceedings of the
Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 271, 681–686.
Simard, M.A., Coulson, T., Gingras, A. & Côté, S.D. (2010) Influence of Density and Climate
on Population Dynamics of a Large Herbivore Under Harsh Environmental Conditions.
The Journal of Wildlife Management, 74, 1671–1685.
Texeira, M., Paruelo, J.M. & Jobbagy, E. (2008) How do forage availability and climate
control sheep reproductive performance? An analysis based on artificial neural networks
and remotely sensed data. Ecological Modelling, 217, 197-206.
Wittemyer, G. (2011) Effects of Economic Downturns on Mortality of Wild African
Elephants. Conservation Biology, 25, 1002–1009.
Fig. S1. Pearson’s product-moment correlation matrix for explanatory variables; long-term sitespecific average energy availability (average Integrated Annual NDVI; iNDVI), level of seasonality
(NDVI contingency), level of inter-annual stability (NDVI constancy), average adult body mass (kg;
log-transformed), and study area buffer size (radius; km). Pearson’s r values in black are significant (p
< 0.05), while values in light grey are non-significant.
Table S2. Results of Moran’s I test for the presence of spatial autocorrelation in the residuals of the top
17 models considered in these analyses (Table 2).
Moran’s I
statistic
Moran’s I
standard
deviate
p
Constancy + Diet + log(BM)
-0.01
-1.08
0.28
Constancy + log(BM)
-0.02
-1.63
0.10
Constancy * log(BM) + Diet
-0.01
-1.04
0.30
Constancy + Diet * log(BM)
-0.01
-1.02
0.31
Constancy + iNDVI + Diet + log(BM)
-0.01
-1.10
0.27
Constancy * Diet + log(BM)
-0.01
-1.03
0.30
Constancy + iNDVI * log(Buffer) + Diet + log(BM)
-0.02
-1.46
0.15
Constancy + log(Buffer) + log(BM)
-0.02
-1.55
0.12
Constancy + iNDVI + log(Buffer) + Diet + log(BM)
-0.01
-0.90
0.37
Constancy + iNDVI + log(BM)
-0.02
-1.69
0.09
Constancy * log(Buffer) + log(BM)
-0.02
-1.84
0.07
Constancy + Parameter + Diet + log(BM)
-0.01
-0.67
0.50
Constancy + iNDVI * log(Buffer) + log(BM)
-0.02
-2.11
0.04
Constancy * log(BM)
-0.02
-1.62
0.10
Constancy * iNDVI + Diet + log(BM)
-0.01
-1.07
0.28
Constancy * log(Buffer) + iNDVI + Diet + log(BM)
-0.01
-1.12
0.26
Constancy * log(BM) + iNDVI + Diet
-0.01
-1.07
0.29
Model