Research overview: net squared displacement to classify movement strategies

Net squared displacement, the squared straight-line distance from a starting point over time, provides a simple but powerful way to classify whole-trajectory movement strategies. This overview describes how characteristic curves distinguish residency, in which displacement fluctuates around a stable value, from migration, which shows a rise to a plateau and return, and from dispersal and nomadism, which keep increasing. By fitting candidate models to the displacement curve, researchers can objectively categorize an individual's annual pattern. For felids, where the line between residency, dispersal, and nomadism is often blurry, especially in snow leopards, such classification helps decide whether home-range analysis is even appropriate. The overview notes sensitivity to the chosen origin and tracking duration. Net squared displacement remains a standard first look at movement strategy.