PMID: 18213978Jan 25, 2008Paper

Manipulating decay time for efficient large-mammal density estimation: gorillas and dung height

Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America
Hjalmar S KuehlPeter D Walsh

Abstract

Large-mammal surveys often rely on indirect signs such as dung or nests. Sign density is usually translated into animal density using sign production and decay rates. In principle, such auxiliary variable estimates should be made in a spatially unbiased manner. However, traditional decay rate estimation methods entail following many signs from production to disappearance, which, in large study areas, requires extensive travel effort. Consequently, decay rate estimates have tended to be made instead at some convenient but unrepresentative location. In this study we evaluated how much bias might be induced by extrapolating decay rates from unrepresentative locations, how much effort would be required to implement current methods in a spatially unbiased manner, and what alternate approaches might be used to improve precision. To evaluate the extent of bias induced by unrepresentative sampling, we collected data on gorilla dung at several central African sites. Variation in gorilla dung decay rate was enormous, varying by up to an order of magnitude within and between survey zones. We then estimated what the effort-precision relationship would be for a previously suggested "retrospective" decay rate (RDR) method, if it were impleme...Continue Reading

References

Apr 8, 2003·Nature·Peter D WalshDavid S Wilkie
Sep 28, 2006·Mycological Research·Gaseitsiwe S MasungaShivcharn S Dhillion
Dec 13, 2006·Science·Magdalena BermejoPeter D Walsh

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Citations

Jan 28, 2009·Primates; Journal of Primatology·Linda Vigilant, Katerina Guschanski
Oct 3, 2013·PloS One·Mizuki MuraiHjalmar S Kühl
Feb 25, 2009·American Journal of Primatology·Célestin Yao KouakouHjalmar Kuehl
Jan 18, 2017·American Journal of Primatology·Anne-Sophie CrunchantHjalmar S Kühl
Apr 6, 2017·Primates; Journal of Primatology·Caroline A PhillipsWilliam C McGrew
Feb 28, 2019·American Journal of Primatology·Noémie CappelleHjalmar S Kühl

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