Overlap of habitat selection does not predict spatial distributions of contact
By comparing the contact-RSF model with a paired (overlap) individual-RSF model, we were able to reject our null hypothesis and found that landscape features impacted habitat selection and contact differently. These results indicate that interactions among unmeasured factors such as social behaviors, resource value and competition structure contact and conspecific interactions in more complex ways than purely selection of habitat.
The mismatch between habitat selection behavior and the spatial distribution of contacts has ramifications for our interpretation of contact based ecological processes. In disease systems, accurately predicting the spatial distribution of host contacts is crucial for assessing the risk of spillovers and estimating disease spread. Previous research often used the distribution of host population habitat selection as a proxy for contact to estimate transmission hotspots. For example, in the chronic wasting disease system, overlapping areas that are shared by deer are considered high probability areas for contact and disease transmission, and were used to inform disease control and surveillance priorities (Walter et al. 2011). In predator-prey systems, the prediction of predation risk for prey species, such as the probability of encounter, attack, and kill, is often estimated based on the perception of risk by prey in their resource selection or by directly assessing landscape characteristics where predation occurs (Atwood et al. 2009). However, because landscape features may influence habitat selection and contact differently, estimation of spatial features influencing contact would be more accurate if done directly.