1. Acoustic telemetry enables spatial ecologists to collect movement data from a variety of aquatic species. In estuaries and rivers, accounting for the complex shape of water bodies is challenging. Current methods for analysing utilization distributions (UDs) are restricted to using the locations of receivers where animals have been detected, which limits the information available to estimate movement paths.
2. We present a new r package (RSP—Refined Shortest Paths) for analysing the movements of animals tracked with acoustic transmitters in environments constrained by landmasses. The method estimates the shortest in water locations of monitored animals between pairs of detections using least‐cost path analysis. It then applies dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Models to calculate UD areas. Intra‐ and interspecific overlaps in space and time are calculated and can be used, for example, to investigate potential influencing environmental factors.
3. Tracks refined with RSP follow the estuary shape, yielding substantially longer, but more realistic travel distances. Showcased examples demonstrate how RSP can be used to analyse intra‐ and interspecific movement patterns; determine similarities in habitat use; identify the environmental conditions responsible for influencing the size of the space use areas; and assess levels of spatial overlap between different species.
4. The RSP toolkit generates more realistic movements of tracked animals than those derived using receiver locations alone. An incidental benefit is its ability to deal with receiver loss, a common problem in acoustic telemetry studies. The analysis can be readily customized to suit different study species, array configurations and habitat shapes.

中文翻译：

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改进的最短路径（RSP）：根据基于节点的遥测数据将地形纳入空间使用估算中

1. 声学遥测技术使空间生态学家能够收集来自各种水生物种的运动数据。在河口和河流中，考虑水体的复杂形状是一项挑战。当前用于分析利用率分布（UD）的方法仅限于使用已检测到动物的接收器的位置，这限制了可用于估计运动路径的信息。
2. 我们提出了一个新的r包（RSP-Refined Shortest Paths，精简最短路径），用于分析在内陆受限的环境中用声发射器跟踪的动物的运动。该方法使用最小成本的路径分析来估计在成对的检测之间被监视动物的水位中最短的位置。然后，它应用动态的布朗桥运动模型来计算UD面积。计算了空间和时间的种内和种间重叠，并可用于例如调查潜在的影响环境因素。
3. 使用RSP精制的轨道遵循河口形状，产生更长但更真实的行进距离。展示的示例演示了如何使用RSP分析种内和种间运动模式。确定栖息地使用的相似性；确定影响空间使用区域大小的环境条件；并评估不同物种之间的空间重叠水平。
4. 与仅使用接收器位置获得的动物相比，RSP工具包可以生成更真实的被跟踪动物运动。附带的好处是它具有处理接收器损耗的能力，这是声学遥测研究中的常见问题。可以轻松定制分析以适合不同的研究物种，阵列配置和栖息地形状。