"Large mammalian herbivores are extensively-studied worldwide, often to gain new insights into the relationship between these animals and their environment. Elucidating a mechanistic basis of processes such as movement and resource selection can inform conservation and management practice. Therein, relating these processes to intrinsic (both state- and stage-related) and extrinsic dimensions (abiotic and biotic characteristics of the environment) is of paramount importance. I center my thesis on the role of these two dimensions in ungulate movement and resource selection. In chapter 1, I focused on the extrinsic dimension by employing both linear and non-linear regression techniques to evaluate the plausibility of "critical temperatures" in movement of moose (Alces alces) in Norway, using a rich dataset of GPS-location data. I found weak evidence for these thresholds in the movement of moose, and I discuss this finding in light of a changing climate. In Chapter 2 I studied the intrinsic dimension via an examination of individual variation in resource selection of elk (Cervus elaphus) in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. I investigated the consequences of prevailing practice, whereby individual information is pooled to fit an aggregate-level model, by fitting models at the level of each individual elk and making comparisons. I found that important inferences can be missed if resource selection is only considered at the aggregate level. In summary, my research demonstrates the importance of using wild-living individuals and multiple modeling perspectives to develop functional population- or species-level inferences regarding the roles of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in animal-environment relationships of ungulates."--Page ii.
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