Abstract
How intensely animals use habitat features depends on their functional properties (i.e., how the feature influences fitness) and the spatial and temporal scale considered. For herbivores, habitat use is expected to reflect the competing risks of starvation, predation, and thermal stress, but the relative importance of each functional property is expected to vary in space and time. We examined how a dietary and habitat specialist, the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), used these functional properties of its sagebrush habitat—food quality, security, and thermal refuge—at two hierarchical spatial scales (plant and patch) across two seasons (winter and summer). At the plant and patch scales, we determined which plant functional traits predicted the number of bites (i.e., foraging) by pygmy rabbits and number of their fecal pellets (i.e., general habitat use). Pygmy rabbits used plants and patches more intensely that had higher crude protein and aerial concealment cover and were closer to burrows. Food quality was more important when rabbits used plants than patches. Security was more important in winter than summer, and more at Cedar Gulch than Camas. However, the importance of functional properties depended on phytochemical and structural properties of sagebrush and was not spatio-temporally consistent. These results show function-dependent habitat use that varied according to specific activities by a central-place browsing herbivore. Making spatially-explicit predictions of the relative value of habitat features that influence different types of habitat use (i.e., foraging, hiding, thermoregulating) will improve how we predict patterns of habitat use by herbivores and how we monitor and manage functional traits within habitats for wildlife.

Ancillary Data
This dataset was derived from or used data products provided by the following datasets and manuscripts:
Chemistry Data: Sorensen Forbey, J., Olsoy, P., Robb, B., Fremgen-Tarantino, M. R., & Nobler, J. D. (2022). Compiled Idaho sagebrush chemistry and plant herbivore interaction data [Data set]. University of Idaho. https://doi.org/10.7923/1JNH-Z422
UAS Data: Olsoy, P., Burgess, M., Sorensen Forbey, J., Rachlow, J., Shipley, L., & Thornton, D. (2022). Unoccupied aerial systems imagery from Camas, Cedar Gulch and Rocky Canyon Idaho [Data set]. University of Idaho. https://doi.org/10.7923/EM9K-RD28
PatchType Rasters: Olsoy, P., Sorensen Forbey, J., Shipley, L., Rachlow, J., Robb, B., Nobler, J., & Thornton, D. (2022). Data from: Mapping foodscapes and sagebrush morphotypes with unmanned aerial systems for multiple herbivores [Data set]. University of Idaho. https://doi.org/10.7923/6Z9M-WZ55
Structural Data (Volume and Aerial Concealment): Olsoy, Peter J. et al. (2018), Data from: Unmanned aerial systems measure structural habitat features for wildlife across multiple scales, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.631q1
Thermal refuge data: Derived from Raw UAS data following methods and equations found in https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13008

Data Use
License: CC-BY
Recommended Citation: Olsoy, P., Milling, C., Nobler, J. D., Camp, M. J., Shipley, L. A., Rachlow, J., & Thornton, D. H. (2022). Data from: Food quality, security, and thermal refuge influence use of plants and patches by pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) across landscapes and seasons [Data set]. University of Idaho. https://doi.org/10.7923/RK1C-JZ69