Using partial aggregation in Spatial Capture Recapture

1. Spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models are commonly used for analyzing data collected using non-invasive genetic sampling (NGS). Opportunistic NGS often leads to detections that do not occur at discrete detector locations. Therefore, spatial aggregation of individual detections into fixed detectors (e.g. center of grid cells) is an option to increase computing speed of SCR analyses. However, it may reduce precision and accuracy of parameter estimations. 2. Using simulations, we explored the impact that spatial aggregation of detections has on a trade-off between computing time and parameter precision and bias, under a range of biological conditions. We used three different observation models: the commonly used Poisson and Bernoulli models, as well as a novel way to partially aggregate detections (Partially Aggregated Binary model (PAB)) to reduce the loss of information after aggregating binary detections. The PAB model divides detectors into K subdetectors and models the frequency ...