Estimation Methodology in Contemporary Small Mammal Capture-Recapture Studies

Abstract

Estimators of population size and survival rate based on the Jolly-Seber capture-recapture model and the “enumeration method” are described. Enumeration estimators are shown to estimate complicated functions of capture and survival probabilities and, in the case of the population size estimator, population size. Frequently-listed reasons for preferring enumeration estimators are discussed and the Jolly-Seber estimators are shown to be superior even in the case of heterogeneity and trap-happy response, the two sources of unequal capture probability most likely to occur in small mammal studies. New developments in probabilistic capture-recapture models are described, and these models are recommended for future small mammal capture-recapture studies.