Routine movement and resource tracking in a specialist arboreal folivore: sex- and season-dependent revisits by koalas

Abstract Routine movement, defined as the repeated use of space over time, can occur in both temporal and spatial dimensions and provides valuable insight into how animals interact with their environment. Temporal routine refers to consistent revisitation of resource patches, while spatial routine describes predictable sequences of patch use. Although well documented in nectar-feeding birds and insects, these behaviors remain poorly understood in mammalian herbivores. Here, we investigated temporal and spatial routine in the Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), a specialist arboreal folivore, and assessed how intrinsic (sex, age) and extrinsic (rainfall, vegetation productivity) factors influence these patterns. From 2015 to 2017, we GPS-tracked 25 adult koalas for up to 5 mo in a fragmented agricultural landscape in northern New South Wales, Australia. Temporal routines were identified using Fourier and wavelet analyses of presence/absence time series within core areas, while spatial routine was assessed using a conditional entropy-based routine index. Most koalas exhibited temporal routines at 2-, 7-, or 20-d intervals. Males were more likely to show short (2-d) cycles, while females more often exhibited longer (20-d) cycles. The probability of temporal routine increased under conditions of low rainfall and reduced plant productivity, suggesting a behavioral strategy to access high-value resources during environmental stress. Spatial routine was observed in only 11 individuals and declined with increasing numbers of core patches, with overall spatial predictability not exceeding that expected under random movement. This study provides the first quantitative evidence of routine temporal and spatial movement in a specialist mammalian folivore, revealing sex-specific behaviors and the influence of environmental variability on movement patterns.