An assessment of sampling designs using SCR analyses to estimate abundance of boreal caribou

Accurately estimating abundance is a critical component of monitoring and recovery of rare and elusive species. Spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models are an increasingly popular method for robust estimation of ecological parameters. We provide an analytical framework to assess results from empirical studies to inform SCR sampling design, using both simulated and empirical data from non-invasive genetic sampling of seven boreal caribou populations (Rangifer tarandus caribou) which varied in range size and estimated population density. We use simulated population data with varying levels of clustered distributions to quantify the impact of non-independence of detections on density estimates, and empirical datasets to explore the influence of varied sampling intensity on the relative bias and precision of density estimates. Â Simulations revealed that clustered distributions of detections did not significantly impact relative bias or precision of density estimates. The genotyping success r...精准估算种群丰度，是珍稀隐匿物种监测与种群恢复工作的关键环节。空间捕获-再捕获（Spatial capture-recapture, SCR）模型现已成为稳健估算生态学参数的愈发常用的方法。本研究构建了一套分析框架，用于评估实证研究结果以指导SCR采样设计，所用数据涵盖模拟数据与非侵入式遗传采样获取的实证数据，采样对象为7个北方驯鹿（Rangifer tarandus caribou）种群，这些种群的分布范围与估算种群密度均存在差异。本研究通过设置不同集群分布水平的模拟种群数据，量化检测非独立性对密度估算结果的影响；并利用实证数据集，探究不同采样强度对密度估算的相对偏差与精度的影响。模拟结果显示，检测点的集群分布并未对密度估算的相对偏差或精度产生显著影响。基因分型成功率……