An easily implemented single‐visit survey method for intermittently available and imperfectly detectable wildlife applied to the Florida east coast diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin tequesta)
Abstract Single‐visit surveys of plots are often used for estimating the abundance of species of conservation concern. Less‐than‐perfect availability and detection of individuals can bias estimates if not properly accounted for. We developed field methods and a Bayesian model that accounts for avail...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11130 |
| _version_ | 1797244932164943872 |
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| author | Eric D. Stolen David R. Breininger Daniel J. Breininger Robert D. Breininger |
| author_facet | Eric D. Stolen David R. Breininger Daniel J. Breininger Robert D. Breininger |
| author_sort | Eric D. Stolen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Single‐visit surveys of plots are often used for estimating the abundance of species of conservation concern. Less‐than‐perfect availability and detection of individuals can bias estimates if not properly accounted for. We developed field methods and a Bayesian model that accounts for availability and detection bias during single‐visit visual plot surveys. We used simulated data to test the accuracy of the method under a realistic range of generating parameters and applied the method to Florida's east coast diamondback terrapin in the Indian River Lagoon system, where they were formerly common but have declined in recent decades. Simulations demonstrated that the method produces unbiased abundance estimates under a wide range of conditions that can be expected to occur in such surveys. Using terrapins as an example we show how to include covariates and random effects to improve estimates and learn about species‐habitat relationships. Our method requires only counting individuals during short replicate surveys rather than keeping track of individual identity and is simple to implement in a variety of point count settings when individuals may be temporarily unavailable for observation. We provide examples in R and JAGS for implementing the model and to simulate and evaluate data to validate the application of the method under other study conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T19:18:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a785c18094044c5e8bf9558d4e8a4a88 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T19:18:52Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-a785c18094044c5e8bf9558d4e8a4a882024-03-26T04:26:58ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-03-01143n/an/a10.1002/ece3.11130An easily implemented single‐visit survey method for intermittently available and imperfectly detectable wildlife applied to the Florida east coast diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin tequesta)Eric D. Stolen0David R. Breininger1Daniel J. Breininger2Robert D. Breininger3Herndon Solutions Group, LLC NASA Environmental and Medical Contract, Kennedy Space Center Florida USAHerndon Solutions Group, LLC NASA Environmental and Medical Contract, Kennedy Space Center Florida USADepartment of Mathematics Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne Florida USADepartment of Mathematics Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne Florida USAAbstract Single‐visit surveys of plots are often used for estimating the abundance of species of conservation concern. Less‐than‐perfect availability and detection of individuals can bias estimates if not properly accounted for. We developed field methods and a Bayesian model that accounts for availability and detection bias during single‐visit visual plot surveys. We used simulated data to test the accuracy of the method under a realistic range of generating parameters and applied the method to Florida's east coast diamondback terrapin in the Indian River Lagoon system, where they were formerly common but have declined in recent decades. Simulations demonstrated that the method produces unbiased abundance estimates under a wide range of conditions that can be expected to occur in such surveys. Using terrapins as an example we show how to include covariates and random effects to improve estimates and learn about species‐habitat relationships. Our method requires only counting individuals during short replicate surveys rather than keeping track of individual identity and is simple to implement in a variety of point count settings when individuals may be temporarily unavailable for observation. We provide examples in R and JAGS for implementing the model and to simulate and evaluate data to validate the application of the method under other study conditions.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11130abundanceaquatic animalavailability biasBayesian hierarchical modeldensitydetection bias |
| spellingShingle | Eric D. Stolen David R. Breininger Daniel J. Breininger Robert D. Breininger An easily implemented single‐visit survey method for intermittently available and imperfectly detectable wildlife applied to the Florida east coast diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin tequesta) Ecology and Evolution abundance aquatic animal availability bias Bayesian hierarchical model density detection bias |
| title | An easily implemented single‐visit survey method for intermittently available and imperfectly detectable wildlife applied to the Florida east coast diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin tequesta) |
| title_full | An easily implemented single‐visit survey method for intermittently available and imperfectly detectable wildlife applied to the Florida east coast diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin tequesta) |
| title_fullStr | An easily implemented single‐visit survey method for intermittently available and imperfectly detectable wildlife applied to the Florida east coast diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin tequesta) |
| title_full_unstemmed | An easily implemented single‐visit survey method for intermittently available and imperfectly detectable wildlife applied to the Florida east coast diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin tequesta) |
| title_short | An easily implemented single‐visit survey method for intermittently available and imperfectly detectable wildlife applied to the Florida east coast diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin tequesta) |
| title_sort | easily implemented single visit survey method for intermittently available and imperfectly detectable wildlife applied to the florida east coast diamondback terrapin malaclemys terrapin tequesta |
| topic | abundance aquatic animal availability bias Bayesian hierarchical model density detection bias |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11130 |
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