Population Rate of Change — Valid Inferences

Contents – Index

Population Rate of Change — Valid Inferences

The Jolly-Seber model, all 3 of Pradel’s models, the POPAN model, and the Link-Barker model all require that the study area not change through time for the parameter estimates to make biological sense.  A not uncommon situation is that the study area expands as the investigator becomes more skilled and experienced in trapping and marking animals.  However, in such a case, the results from these models make no biological sense because the population to which the inferences on recruitment and rate of population change is expanding.  Thus, to obtain valid estimates of recruitment or rate of population change, the population must not be changed by changing the size of the study area.