Recapture processes and biological inference in monitoring burrow-nesting seabirds

Sanz‐Aguilar, Ana; Tavecchia, Giacomo; Mínguez, Eduardo; Massa, Bruno; Valvo, Fabio Lo; Ballesteros, Gustavo A.; Barberá, Gonzalo G.; Amengual, J.; Rodríguez, Ana; McMinn, Miguel; Oro, Daniel

doi:10.1007/s10336-009-0435-x

Cited by 34 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…In addition, several seabird species nest in burrows or cavities, and are active in breeding colonies only during the hours of darkness. For these nocturnal burrow-nesting seabirds visual assessments of population size are not possible, and robust estimates of population size are usually based on marking a large number of birds (Sanz-Aguilar et al 2010;Sutherland and Dann 2012) or estimates of burrow occupancy (Pearson et al 2013). On many islands the marking of seabirds or inspection of burrows is logistically not feasible, because birds nest on inaccessible cliffs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating population size of a nocturnal burrow-nesting seabird using acoustic monitoring and habitat mapping

Oppel¹,

Hervías²,

Oliveira³

et al. 2014

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Estimating population size of a nocturnal burrow-nesting seabird using acoustic monitoring and habitat mapping. Nature Conservation 7: 1-13. doi: 10.3897/natureconservation.7.6890 Abstract Population size assessments for nocturnal burrow-nesting seabirds are logistically challenging because these species are active in colonies only during darkness and often nest on remote islands where manual inspections of breeding burrows are not feasible. Many seabird species are highly vocal, and recent technological innovations now make it possible to record and quantify vocal activity in seabird colonies. Here we test the hypothesis that remotely recorded vocal activity in Cory's shearwater (Calonectris borealis) breeding colonies in the North Atlantic increases with nest density, and combined this relationship with cliff habitat mapping to estimate the population size of Cory's shearwaters on the island of Corvo (Azores). We deployed acoustic recording devices in 9 Cory's shearwater colonies of known size to establish a relationship between vocal activity and local nest density (slope = 1.07, R 2 = 0.86, p < 0.001). We used this relationship to predict the nest density in various cliff habitat types and produced a habitat map of breeding cliffs to extrapolate nest density around the island of Corvo. The mean predicted nest density on Corvo ranged from 6.6 (2.1-16.2) to 27.8 (19.5-36.4) nests/ha. Extrapolation of habitat-specific nest densities across the cliff area of Corvo resulted in an estimate of 6326 Cory's shearwater nests (95% confidence interval: 524). This population size estimate is similar to previous assessments, but is too imprecise to detect moderate changes in population size over time. While estimating absolute population size from acoustic recordings may not be sufficiently precise, the strong positive relationship that we found between local nest density and recorded calling rate indicates that passive acoustic monitoring may be useful to document relative changes in seabird populations over time. RESEARCH ARTICLE Launched to accelerate biodiversity conservation A peer-reviewed open-access journalSteffen Oppel et al. / Nature Conservation 7: 1-13 (2014) 2

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating population size of a nocturnal burrow-nesting seabird using acoustic monitoring and habitat mapping

Oppel¹,

Hervías²,

Oliveira³

et al. 2014

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“…Appropriate study designs can enhance the accuracy of estimates in two ways: (1) by increasing detection probability or (2) by reducing heterogeneity across individuals (Sanz-Aguilar et al 2010). The first way increases the quantity of available information and thus the precision of estimates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterogeneity in detection probability along the breeding season in Black-legged Kittiwakes: implications for sampling design

et al. 2010

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In wild animal population studies, capture heterogeneity is likely to be prevalent and can reduce the accuracy of vital rate estimates. Here, we test how individual detection probabilities vary through the breeding season in a population of a cliff-nesting colonial seabird, the Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla). Specifically, we expected detection probability to be affected by changes in brooding behavior and nest attendance associated with the breeding phenology and the local breeding performance of individuals. As predicted, we found that strong heterogeneities in detection probability can occur in relation to the breeding performance of individuals, the breeding performance of their neighbors, and the timing of surveys. Detection probability is highest and most homogeneous at the beginning of the breeding season. Later in the season, it is lower and can vary dramatically among groups of breeding individuals. A simulation approach was used to assess the implications of these results for the performance (bias and precision) of different study designs. Clearly, investing sampling effort early in the season is an efficient way to improve the accuracy of parameter estimates in this species. Our findings stress the importance of establishing study designs that take into account the population and behavioral ecology of the focal species.

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“…The first assumption is generally met by sampling within a period relatively short to ensure that the population does not change its size or composition. In contrast, the hypothesis of homogeneity in recapture probability cannot be easily met without a previous knowledge of animal behavior or sampling constraints (Sanz-Aguilar et al 2010). Indeed, heterogeneity of recapture across individuals is common in long-term studies based on uniquely marked individuals (see examples in Crespin et al 2008;Tavecchia et al 2008;Sanz-Aguilar et al 2010).…”

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“…Assessing the different factors that affect the detection probability is important to provide guidelines for survey design and to obtain unbiased estimates of population size (Sanz-Aguilar et al 2010). Here, we illustrate a two-sessions capture-recapture survey and investigate the predictors of the recapture probability of the sessile noble pen shell, Pinna nobilis, an endemic large and endangered bivalve of the Mediterranean.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, the hypothesis of homogeneity in recapture probability cannot be easily met without a previous knowledge of animal behavior or sampling constraints (Sanz-Aguilar et al 2010). Indeed, heterogeneity of recapture across individuals is common in long-term studies based on uniquely marked individuals (see examples in Crespin et al 2008;Tavecchia et al 2008;Sanz-Aguilar et al 2010). The heterogeneity of detection can be incorporated in specific models, or procedures, for the estimate of closed as well as open population size (Pledger and Efford 1998;Pledger 2000;Schwarz and Anderson 2001;Chao et al 2008;Cubaynes et al 2010).…”

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2012

Limnology & Ocean Methods

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Capture-recapture methods to estimate population size and its uncertainty rely on the important assumption that recapture probability does not change across individuals or within groups of individuals. This assumption is rarely met in natural populations and assessing the variance components associated with the recapture probability of marked individuals would help to design surveys. We illustrate a two-session capture-recapture survey of the threatened pen shell around the archipelago of Majorca, Spain. We were interested in investigating difference across teams of divers, sites, and individuals in the recapture probability of marked bivalves. We found that the probability of recapture was positively associated with shell width while differences across teams and sites were small. Our results indicate that inferences based on counts or on an average value of shell detection probability are underestimating total population size and in particular are skewed toward large size individuals leading to an erroneous measure of recruitment. In our case using an average value of detection probability, the number of young pen shells would be underestimated of c. 19%. Estimates of population size by capture-recapture methods should be derived taking into account size-dependent variability in recapture probabilities.*Corresponding author: E-mail: iris@imedea.uib-csic.es Acknowledgments I.E. Hendriks was funded by a grant from the Spanish government (JCI-2007-123-844). G.T. was founded by a grant from the Spanish Minister of Science and Innovation (project number: BFU2009-09359). We are grateful to Nuria Marbà, Regino Martinez, Lorena Basso, Miguel Cabanellas, Micaela Noguera, Elena Diaz, Laura Royo, Sandro Sardu, and Antonio Canepas for their help during data collection. To M. Kery for his help with MCMC modeling and S. Pledger for her useful information on handling trap-heterogeneity. Many thanks to S. Tenan for his advices on model selection and his constructive criticisms to an early draft of the manuscript. Two anonymous referees provided constructive comments. This work was sponsored by the Regional Government of the Balearic Islands and partially funded by FEDER. (Sauer et al. 1994) and count accuracy increases with observers' experience (Kendall et al. 1996).Assessing the different factors that affect the detection probability is important to provide guidelines for survey design and to obtain unbiased estimates of population size (Sanz-Aguilar et al. 2010). Here, we illustrate a two-sessions capture-recapture survey and investigate the predictors of the recapture probability of the sessile noble pen shell, Pinna nobilis, an endemic large and endangered bivalve of the Mediterranean. In recent years, the number of pen shells has declined (Centoducati et al. 2007) and much effort has been devoted recently to monitor its populations along the Mediterranean coasts (García-March et al. 2007;Galinou-Mitsoudi et al. 2006;Katsanevakis 2005;Siletic and Peharda 2003; Rabaoui et al. 2010). Noble pen shell surveys are ge...

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Recapture processes and biological inference in monitoring burrow-nesting seabirds

Cited by 34 publications

References 44 publications

Estimating population size of a nocturnal burrow-nesting seabird using acoustic monitoring and habitat mapping

Estimating population size of a nocturnal burrow-nesting seabird using acoustic monitoring and habitat mapping

Heterogeneity in detection probability along the breeding season in Black-legged Kittiwakes: implications for sampling design

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