Evaluation of aerial surveys of ptarmigan (Lagopus spp.) ...
Ptarmigan (Lagopus spp.) range over most of the Canadian arctic and alpine; thus, a technique is needed to track their densities over a large scale, which current techniques do not. I evaluated a program of aerial surveys done from 1990 to 1996 at Kluane, Yukon, which could do so. The indices of den...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of British Columbia
2009
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0087246 https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0087246 |
| Summary: | Ptarmigan (Lagopus spp.) range over most of the Canadian arctic and alpine; thus, a technique is needed to track their densities over a large scale, which current techniques do not. I evaluated a program of aerial surveys done from 1990 to 1996 at Kluane, Yukon, which could do so. The indices of density obtained from aerial counts were subject to many types of errors. Of these, the counting bias, probably the largest source of bias, could have been corrected partially by using the simultaneous 2-sample capture-recapture method. However, the correction factors were highly imprecise due to the low number of double-counts. The variation of total survey bias (with 5 replicates of the survey over 2 weeks in 1996) was low in comparison to the variability of the indices between years; thus, the technique is repeatable. About 70% of the variability of the index in a given year could be attributed to daily factors. I also calibrated the index using ground counts (line transect estimates based on perpendicular ... |
|---|