ABSTRACT
The value in considering animal movement processes in discrete-time contexts is undeniable. The discrete-time context is valuable because a wealth of tools can be borrowed from the time series literature, the dynamics are easily conceptualized in discrete time, and finally, implementing models digitally on computers, thus it must discretize the procedure at some prespecified resolution regardless. One could argue, however, that the true process of movement really occurs in both continuous time and continuous space. Thus, there is value in constructing statistical animal movement models from the continuous-time perspective, even though we may end up discretizing the implementation. The Lagrangian–Eulerian connection in ecological diffusion directly relates to the continuous-versus discrete-time formulations in animal movement models. Rather than condition on an incremental sequence of endpoints, there is value in modeling the animal movement process as a true dynamic continuous-time process.
