Models for species-detection data collected along transects in the presence of abundance-induced heterogeneity and clustering in the detection process

Abstract

1.Models have been devised previously that allow the estimation of abundance from detection data of unmarked individuals while accounting for imperfect detection, but these are restricted to models for discrete sampling protocols, i.e. replicated detection/non-detection or count data. Furthermore, these models assume that the detections from each individual are independent; however, there are cases in which this assumption is likely to be violated. For example, in surveys along transects, clustering in the signs left by each individual could be expected. 2.Here, we propose models to estimate abundance from species-detection data collected continuously along transects considering two cases: (..