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Where herbivores choose to graze, rest, or traverse a landscape results from inherited attributes, individual and social learning systems, and spatial memory. Behavioral patterns are set on a foundation of inherited morphological, physiological, and neurological characteristics. An animals propensity to use or avoid specific locations and habitats is rooted in the genetic guidelines the animal's inherited from their forbearers. On this genetic foundation are built individual experiences that yield habitat preferences and aversions based on consequences experienced while foraging. Social interactions with parents, siblings, and herd members further inform spatial decisions and shape learned behaviors across generations. The more we study animal behavior the more blurred the lines between nature and nurture become. For example, animals learn to graze in locations that have yielded positive feedback in terms of foraging resources and other conditions in the past. However, inherited morphological, physiological, and neurological characteristics alter the nature and magnitude of consequences experienced by the animal. The relatively new field of epigenetics has further blurred the boundary between genetics and learned responses by showing that the social and biophysical environments experienced during growth and development influences gene expression in ways that can transcend generations. The key to understanding landscape use patterns of herbivores therefore resides in grasping the continual interaction of genetic codes and environmental conditions. We will describe the basic principles that underlie how animals make landscape and habitat decisions and will build a framework for understanding interactions between the genome and learning systems.