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Using Mixtures to Model Heterogeneity in Ecological Capture‐Recapture Studies
Author(s) -
Pledger Shirley,
Phillpot Polly
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
biometrical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.108
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1521-4036
pISSN - 0323-3847
DOI - 10.1002/bimj.200810446
Subject(s) - mark and recapture , abundance (ecology) , population , ecology , econometrics , data set , set (abstract data type) , statistics , computer science , mathematics , biology , demography , programming language , sociology
Modelling heterogeneity of capture is an important problem in estimating animal abundance from capturerecapture data, with underestimation of abundance occurring if different animals have intrinsically high or low capture probabilities. Mixture models are useful in many cases to model the heterogeneity. We summarise mixture model results for closed populations, using a skink data set for illustration. New mixture models for heterogeneous open populations are discussed, and a closed population model is shown to have new and potentially effective applications in community analysis. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)