| Understanding wildlife-habitat relationships is critical for conservation and management and for predicting how species' ranges will shift under climate change. For generalists, these relationships can be highly variable, necessitating fine-scale habitat selection studies across spatial and temporal scales. We studied home ranges and habitat selection of a widely distributed generalist herbivore, the North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum). Porcupines have undergone recent, unexplained decline in California, yet very little is known about their ecology at this edge of their range or in coastal areas in general. Furthermore, although porcupine diet and behavior are known to have a strong seasonal component, few studies have compared home range and habitat use between summer and winter. We captured and radio-collared 14 porcupines in Tolowa Dunes State Park in Del Norte County, California, in summer 2015. Here, we present results from summer, fall, and winter tracking in order to understand habitat selection at the home range and within-home-range levels. This research will (1) help us understand spatiotemporal changes in habitat relationships in this generalist species, and (2) inform future research and management of the porcupine in light of its recent decline. |