Playing favourites - a review and discussion on the allocation of vertebrate orders and foci in home range and habitat selection studies

Home range and habitat selection are key subjects when studying animal ecology. Defining the space use and resource management of an animal establishes a solid basis for further behavioural and ecological research, as well as conservation management. Studies focusing on determining home range and habitat selection often include further questions regarding for example conservation, animal movement, population dynamics, and inter- or intraspecific interactions. It is therefore unsurprising that home range and habitat selection have been the focus of numerous studies on different vertebrate taxa over the years. We have reviewed 903 publications, on all extant vertebrate clades focusing on these topics from 1980 to the first quarter of 2018. We have observed that allocation of vertebrate orders are independent of species richness, relatedness, and portion of threatened species within the order. We have highlighted the relation between publication numbers and species richness and offer ideas for future research in proposing possible causes for the observed allocation and in highlighting understudied clades. Furthermore, we have observed that topics often studied in concordance with home range and habitat selection are conservation and human influence, intraspecific differences, and home range shifts/exploratory behaviour. Meanwhile, topics like population density, reproductive behaviour, territoriality/aggressive behaviour, and interspecific interactions seem to be less studied. This review highlights and discusses the current distribution of focal points in studies concerning home range and habitat use while identifying less studied fields and taxa - thereby emphasizing potential opportunities for further research.