This paper illustrates how age-at-harvest data, when combined with hunter-effort information routinely collected by state game management agencies, can be used to estimate and monitor trends in big game abundance. Twenty-four years of age-at-harvest data for black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus) were analyzed to produce abundance estimates ranging from 1,281 adult females to 3,232 adult females on a 22,079-ha tree farm in Pierce County, Washington, USA. The annual natural survival probability was estimated to be 0.7293 (= 0.0097) for this female population. The estimated abundance was highly correlated with an independent browse damage index (r = 0.8131, P < 0.001). A population reconstruction incorporating the browse index did not substantially improve the model fit but did provide an auxiliary model for predicting deer abundance. This population reconstruction illustrates a cost-effective alternative to expensive big game survey methods.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 June 2007
Calibrating Statistical Population Reconstruction Models Using Catch-Effort and Index Data
JOHN R. SKALSKI,
RICHARD L. TOWNSEND,
BRIAN A. GILBERT
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
It is not available for individual sale.
This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
It is not available for individual sale.
Journal of Wildlife Management
Vol. 71 • No. 4
June 2007
Vol. 71 • No. 4
June 2007
abundance estimation
black-tailed deer
browse damage index
catch-per-unit effort
maximum likelihood
population reconstruction