Wildlife density estimation by distance sampling: A novel technique with movement compensation

Estimates of population density are fundamental to wildlife conservation and management. Distance sampling from line transects is a widely used sample count method and is most often analysed using Distance software. However, this method has limited capabilities with mobile populations (e.g., birds), which tend to encounter an observer more often than immobile ones. This paper presents a novel distance sampling method based on a different set of models and assumptions, named WildlifeDensity after its associated software. It is based on mechanistic modelling of visual detections of individuals or groups according to radial distance from the observer or perpendicular distance from the transect line. It also compensates for population–observer relative movement to avoid the detection overestimates associated with highly mobile populations. The models are introduced in detail and then tested in three ways: 1) WildlifeDensity is applied to several ‘benchmark’ populations of known density and ..., Data were collected by line transect distance sampling of wildlife populations.
Data were processed by analysis in the computer programs WildlifeDensity and Distance., , # Wildlife density estimation by distance sampling: A novel technique with movement compensation

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.ns1rn8q14](10.5061/dryad.ns1rn8q14)

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This folder contains the data for the article: Wildlife Density Estimation by Distance Sampling: A Novel Technique with Movement Compensation

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Author details: David G. Morgan1, John R. Gibbens1, Ed. T. Conway(dec)., Graham Hepworth2, James Clough1

1School of Biosciences, 2School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

Correspondence: David G. Morgan. Email: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

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