Microhabitat Preference Analysis — Fine-Scale Habitat Selection in Animals

Microhabitat Preference Analysis is a quantitative ecological method used to determine which fine-scale environmental features — such as vegetation structure, substrate type, temperature, or cover — animals actively select beyond what is randomly available to them. Widely applied in veterinary science, wildlife biology, and ethology, it compares the characteristics of locations an animal uses against those of randomly sampled available locations to infer habitat preference, avoidance, or random use.