Complete tag loss in capture–recapture studies affects abundance estimates: An elephant seal case study
Abstract In capture–recapture studies, recycled individuals occur when individuals lose all of their tags and are recaptured as though they were new individuals. Typically, the effect of these recycled individuals is assumed negligible. Through a simulation‐based study of double‐tagging experiments,...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6052 |
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doaj-923f76370caf4750abfdb025215ecf682021-03-02T05:09:10ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582020-03-011052377238410.1002/ece3.6052Complete tag loss in capture–recapture studies affects abundance estimates: An elephant seal case studyEmily Malcolm‐White0Clive R. McMahon1Laura L. E. Cowen2Mathematics Middlebury College Middlebury VT USASydney Institute for Marine Science Mosman NSW AustraliaMathematics and Statistics University of Victoria Victoria BC CanadaAbstract In capture–recapture studies, recycled individuals occur when individuals lose all of their tags and are recaptured as though they were new individuals. Typically, the effect of these recycled individuals is assumed negligible. Through a simulation‐based study of double‐tagging experiments, we examined the effect of recycled individuals on parameter estimates in the Jolly–Seber model with tag loss (Cowen & Schwarz, 2006). We validated the simulation framework using long‐term census data of elephant seals. Including recycled individuals did not affect estimates of capture, survival, and tag‐retention probabilities. However, with low tag‐retention rates, high capture rates, and high survival rates, recycled individuals produced overestimates of population size. For the elephant seal case study, we found population size estimates to be between 8% and 53% larger when recycled individuals were ignored. Ignoring the effects of recycled individuals can cause large biases in population size estimates. These results are particularly noticeable in longer studies.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6052abundancecapture–mark–recapturecomplete tag lossdemographydouble taggingelephant seal |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Emily Malcolm‐White Clive R. McMahon Laura L. E. Cowen |
spellingShingle |
Emily Malcolm‐White Clive R. McMahon Laura L. E. Cowen Complete tag loss in capture–recapture studies affects abundance estimates: An elephant seal case study Ecology and Evolution abundance capture–mark–recapture complete tag loss demography double tagging elephant seal |
author_facet |
Emily Malcolm‐White Clive R. McMahon Laura L. E. Cowen |
author_sort |
Emily Malcolm‐White |
title |
Complete tag loss in capture–recapture studies affects abundance estimates: An elephant seal case study |
title_short |
Complete tag loss in capture–recapture studies affects abundance estimates: An elephant seal case study |
title_full |
Complete tag loss in capture–recapture studies affects abundance estimates: An elephant seal case study |
title_fullStr |
Complete tag loss in capture–recapture studies affects abundance estimates: An elephant seal case study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Complete tag loss in capture–recapture studies affects abundance estimates: An elephant seal case study |
title_sort |
complete tag loss in capture–recapture studies affects abundance estimates: an elephant seal case study |
publisher |
Wiley |
series |
Ecology and Evolution |
issn |
2045-7758 |
publishDate |
2020-03-01 |
description |
Abstract In capture–recapture studies, recycled individuals occur when individuals lose all of their tags and are recaptured as though they were new individuals. Typically, the effect of these recycled individuals is assumed negligible. Through a simulation‐based study of double‐tagging experiments, we examined the effect of recycled individuals on parameter estimates in the Jolly–Seber model with tag loss (Cowen & Schwarz, 2006). We validated the simulation framework using long‐term census data of elephant seals. Including recycled individuals did not affect estimates of capture, survival, and tag‐retention probabilities. However, with low tag‐retention rates, high capture rates, and high survival rates, recycled individuals produced overestimates of population size. For the elephant seal case study, we found population size estimates to be between 8% and 53% larger when recycled individuals were ignored. Ignoring the effects of recycled individuals can cause large biases in population size estimates. These results are particularly noticeable in longer studies. |
topic |
abundance capture–mark–recapture complete tag loss demography double tagging elephant seal |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6052 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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