Table 1. Summary of the main characteristics of field-based and genetic methods. Field-based methods Genetic methods Include capture-mark-recapture, radio/satellite tracking Include allele frequency- and genotype-based analyses Generally provide only a snapshot of processes or events at the time of the study Can infer movement or dispersal over several temporal scales Limited to animals that can be marked or are large enough and otherwise appropriate to carry transmitter Virtually no limitations on the type of wildlife that can be studied, if amenable to genetic analysis Good for examining effect of recently and historically constructed roads With contemporary fine-scale analyses, good for examining effect of recently constructed roads Can miss rare or long-range dispersal Powerful for detecting rare or long-distance dispersal and sex-biased dispersal Low sample size due to low recapture rate, loss of radio-collars, mortality etc. No need to recapture to infer fine-scale and population-level movement Generally invasive—capture at least once, usually more often Usually at most single capture, or zero captures when non-invasive techniques are appropriate and feasible