Developing and assessing a density surface model in a Bayesian hierarchical framework with a focus on uncertainty: insights from simulations and an application to fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus)
Density surface models (DSMs) are an important tool in the conservation and management of cetaceans. Most previous applications of DSMs have adopted a two-step approach to model fitting (hereafter referred to as the Two-Stage Method), whereby detection probabilities are first estimated using distanc...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:6983298 2023-05-15T15:36:36+02:00 Developing and assessing a density surface model in a Bayesian hierarchical framework with a focus on uncertainty: insights from simulations and an application to fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Sigourney, Douglas B. Chavez-Rosales, Samuel Conn, Paul B. Garrison, Lance Josephson, Elizabeth Palka, Debra 2020-01-23 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6983298/ https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8226 en eng PeerJ Inc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6983298/ http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8226 ©2020 Sigourney et al. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open access article, free of all copyright, made available under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) . This work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. CC0 PDM Conservation Biology Text 2020 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8226 2020-02-02T01:34:32Z Density surface models (DSMs) are an important tool in the conservation and management of cetaceans. Most previous applications of DSMs have adopted a two-step approach to model fitting (hereafter referred to as the Two-Stage Method), whereby detection probabilities are first estimated using distance sampling detection functions and subsequently used as an offset when fitting a density-habitat model. Although variance propagation techniques have recently become available for the Two-Stage Method, most previous applications have not propagated detection probability uncertainty into final density estimates. In this paper, we describe an alternative approach for fitting DSMs based on Bayesian hierarchical inference (hereafter referred to as the Bayesian Method), which is a natural framework for simultaneously propagating multiple sources of uncertainty into final estimates. Our framework includes (1) a mark-recapture distance sampling observation model that can accommodate two team line transect data, (2) an informed prior for the probability a group of animals is at the surface and available for detection (i.e. surface availability) (3) a density-habitat model incorporating spatial smoothers and (4) a flexible compound Poisson-gamma model for count data that incorporates overdispersion and zero-inflation. We evaluate our method and compare its performance to the Two-Stage Method with simulations and an application to line transect data of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) off the east coast of the USA. Simulations showed that both methods had low bias (<1.5%) and confidence interval coverage close to the nominal 95% rate when variance was propagated from the first step. Results from the fin whale analysis showed that density estimates and predicted distribution patterns were largely similar among methods; however, the coefficient of variation of the final abundance estimate more than doubled (0.14 vs 0.31) when detection variance was correctly propagated into final estimates. An analysis of the variance ... Text Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale PubMed Central (PMC) PeerJ 8 e8226 |
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Conservation Biology |
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Conservation Biology Sigourney, Douglas B. Chavez-Rosales, Samuel Conn, Paul B. Garrison, Lance Josephson, Elizabeth Palka, Debra Developing and assessing a density surface model in a Bayesian hierarchical framework with a focus on uncertainty: insights from simulations and an application to fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) |
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Conservation Biology |
description |
Density surface models (DSMs) are an important tool in the conservation and management of cetaceans. Most previous applications of DSMs have adopted a two-step approach to model fitting (hereafter referred to as the Two-Stage Method), whereby detection probabilities are first estimated using distance sampling detection functions and subsequently used as an offset when fitting a density-habitat model. Although variance propagation techniques have recently become available for the Two-Stage Method, most previous applications have not propagated detection probability uncertainty into final density estimates. In this paper, we describe an alternative approach for fitting DSMs based on Bayesian hierarchical inference (hereafter referred to as the Bayesian Method), which is a natural framework for simultaneously propagating multiple sources of uncertainty into final estimates. Our framework includes (1) a mark-recapture distance sampling observation model that can accommodate two team line transect data, (2) an informed prior for the probability a group of animals is at the surface and available for detection (i.e. surface availability) (3) a density-habitat model incorporating spatial smoothers and (4) a flexible compound Poisson-gamma model for count data that incorporates overdispersion and zero-inflation. We evaluate our method and compare its performance to the Two-Stage Method with simulations and an application to line transect data of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) off the east coast of the USA. Simulations showed that both methods had low bias (<1.5%) and confidence interval coverage close to the nominal 95% rate when variance was propagated from the first step. Results from the fin whale analysis showed that density estimates and predicted distribution patterns were largely similar among methods; however, the coefficient of variation of the final abundance estimate more than doubled (0.14 vs 0.31) when detection variance was correctly propagated into final estimates. An analysis of the variance ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Sigourney, Douglas B. Chavez-Rosales, Samuel Conn, Paul B. Garrison, Lance Josephson, Elizabeth Palka, Debra |
author_facet |
Sigourney, Douglas B. Chavez-Rosales, Samuel Conn, Paul B. Garrison, Lance Josephson, Elizabeth Palka, Debra |
author_sort |
Sigourney, Douglas B. |
title |
Developing and assessing a density surface model in a Bayesian hierarchical framework with a focus on uncertainty: insights from simulations and an application to fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) |
title_short |
Developing and assessing a density surface model in a Bayesian hierarchical framework with a focus on uncertainty: insights from simulations and an application to fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) |
title_full |
Developing and assessing a density surface model in a Bayesian hierarchical framework with a focus on uncertainty: insights from simulations and an application to fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) |
title_fullStr |
Developing and assessing a density surface model in a Bayesian hierarchical framework with a focus on uncertainty: insights from simulations and an application to fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Developing and assessing a density surface model in a Bayesian hierarchical framework with a focus on uncertainty: insights from simulations and an application to fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) |
title_sort |
developing and assessing a density surface model in a bayesian hierarchical framework with a focus on uncertainty: insights from simulations and an application to fin whales (balaenoptera physalus) |
publisher |
PeerJ Inc. |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6983298/ https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8226 |
genre |
Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6983298/ http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8226 |
op_rights |
©2020 Sigourney et al. https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open access article, free of all copyright, made available under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) . This work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. |
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CC0 PDM |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8226 |
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e8226 |
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