Journal article
Precision, accuracy and bias of walked line-transect distance sampling to estimate eastern grey kangaroo population size
R Glass, DM Forsyth, G Coulson, M Festa-Bianchet
Wildlife Research | CSIRO PUBLISHING | Published : 2015
DOI: 10.1071/WR15029
Abstract
Context Distance sampling is widely used to estimate the size of wildlife populations, including kangaroos. However, the performance of distance-sampling abundance estimates has seldom been evaluated for wild mammal populations of known size. Aims We evaluated the precision, accuracy, bias and interval coverage of abundance estimates from walked line-transect sampling, a commonly used distance-sampling method, for a marked free-ranging population of eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) at Yanakie Isthmus, Wilsons Promontory National Park, south-eastern Australia. Methods In each of two study periods (November 2012 and May 2013) we first determined the true size of the uniquely marked ..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This study was funded by Parks Victoria's Research Partners Program (DMF, GC and MFB), the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (RG) and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant (MFB). Parks Victoria kindly provided accommodation at Tidal River during field work. We thank Wendy King, Elise Rioux-Paquette, Camille Le Gall-Payne, Emily Hynes, Allison MacKay and Raphaelle Gautier for assistance and encouragement. Don Fletcher, Jeanette Birtles, Jamie Sanderlin and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on manuscript drafts.