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Survival estimation of a cryptic antelope via photographic capture–recapture
Author(s) -
Marshal Jason P.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1111/aje.12304
Subject(s) - mark and recapture , herbivore , range (aeronautics) , population , abundance (ecology) , sampling (signal processing) , biology , ecology , geography , estimation , forestry , demography , materials science , filter (signal processing) , sociology , computer science , composite material , computer vision , management , economics
Adult survival is a primary determinant of abundance and dynamics of large herbivore populations. For species that are inconspicuous, however, accurate survival estimation depends on accommodating low detection probability. For species with individually recognizable markings, photographic capture–recapture ( CR ) provides an approach to estimate population parameters while accounting for imperfect detection. I investigated the use of photographic CR for a cryptic large herbivore, the nyala, in a region of Hluhluwe– iM folozi Park, South Africa. I conducted photographic sampling based on the closed robust design, with 5–6 daily sampling occasions nested within three week‐long sampling periods, which delineated one dry and one wet season. Detection differed between sexes: encounter probability of female adults depended on whether individuals fell into high‐encounter (seasonal range: 0.61–0.71) or low‐encounter (seasonal range: 0.29–0.40) groups, whereas male adults had a constant encounter probability of 0.39 per day. For both sexes, monthly survival probability was ≥0.93 and did not differ appreciably between seasons or sexes. Given the role of survival in population dynamics, photographic CR has the potential to provide survival estimates for cryptic large herbivores that lack such information.