ProgramSPACECAP: software for estimating animal density using spatially explicit capture–recapture models

Abstract

Summary1. The advent of spatially explicit capture-recapture models is changing the way ecologists analyse capturerecapture data. However, the advantages offered by these new models are not fully exploited because they can be difficult to implement. 2. To address this need, we developed a user-friendly software package, created within the R programming environment, called SPACECAP. This package implements Bayesian spatially explicit hierarchical models to analyse spatial capture-recapture data. 3. Given that a large number of field biologists prefer software with graphical user interfaces for analysing their data, SPACECAP is particularly useful as a tool to increase the adoption of Bayesian spatially explicit capturerecapture methods in practice.

Estimación poblacional y conservación de felinos (Carnivora: Felidae) en el norte de Quintana Roo, México

“…Adicionalmente, se estimó la densidad por medio de modelos espacialmente explícitos del paquete SPACECAP (Gopalaswamy et al, 2012). Este estima directamente la densidad utilizando tanto las historias de captura de los individuos, como los sitios específicos de las estaciones de trampeo.…”

“…Por lo que se ha generado un modelo espacialmente explícito (SECR, por sus siglas en inglés) (Borchers & Efford, 2008) implementado en el programa SPACECAP (Gopalaswamy et al, 2012). Su uso apenas se esta generalizando, por lo que es importante comparar su desempeño con modelos anteriormente empleados.…”

Unifying population and landscape ecology with spatial capture–recapture

“…SCR models yield direct estimates of the distribution of individuals within the population (at right, tiger density from Gopalaswamy et al 2012), and SCR models accommodate explicit models for the probability distribution of activity centers s i , referred to as inhomogeneous point process models, in which the intensity function depends on landscape or habitat structure:…”

Evaluating a Survey Landscape for Tiger Abundance in the Confluence of the Western and Eastern Ghats

“…For comparison, we also carried out the analysis using SPACECAP -another software package that uses the SECR methodology in a Bayesian framework 19 . All required matrices and buffer were created as per the SPACECAP software requirement.…”

“…Individual tigers were first identified using the Wild-ID, a pattern recognition software 17 , to match tiger stripes and cross-checked manually, after which every individual tiger was given a temporary identification number as prescribed under the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) protocol. After this, capture history and trap deployment matrices were developed as suggested by the Spatially Explicit Capture-Recapture (SECR) and SPACECAP operational manuals 18,19 . Habitat masks were constructed by placing a buffer of 2 km around the rectangle that connected the outermost camera trap points.…”