Estimating the survival rates of Soay sheep from mark—recapture—recovery data

2017 ◽  
pp. 317-329
Author(s):  
Walter Zucchini ◽  
Iain L. MacDonald ◽  
Roland Langrock
PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12404
Author(s):  
Frédéric Barraquand ◽  
Ólafur K. Nielsen

Knowledge of survival rates and their potential covariation with environmental drivers, for both adults and juveniles, is paramount to forecast the population dynamics of long-lived animals. Long-lived bird and mammal populations are indeed very sensitive to change in survival rates, especially that of adults. Here we report the first survival estimates for the Icelandic gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) obtained by capture-mark-recapture methods. We use a mark-recapture-recovery model combining live and dead encounters into a unified analysis, in a Bayesian framework. Annual survival was estimated at 0.83 for adults and 0.40 for juveniles. Positive effects of main prey density on juvenile survival (5% increase in survival from min to max density) were possible though not likely. Weather effects on juvenile survival were even less likely. The variability in observed lifespan suggests that adult birds could suffer from human-induced alteration of survival rates.


2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 895-899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley R. Anholt ◽  
Christoph Vorburger ◽  
Peter Knaus

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Jones ◽  
Susan Bettany ◽  
Henrik Moller ◽  
David Fletcher ◽  
Justine de Cruz

Breeding colonies of sooty shearwaters ('muttonbird', tïtï, Puffinus griseus) on mainland New Zealand have declined in recent years. New data on burrow occupancy and colony productivity for seven sooty shearwater breeding colonies on the coast of Otago, New Zealand for the 1996–97 and 1997–98 breeding seasons are presented and analysed as part of a five-year data set. Detection of a burrow's occupants using a fibre-optic burrowscope may underestimate absolute occupancy rates, but is still of value in the analysis of trends. Detection probabilities estimated by the novel use of mark–recapture models corresponded with those of previous studies of the technique's accuracy. Mainland declines are associated with a lack of control of introduced mammalian predators at most mainland colonies superimposed on a global pattern of decline in the species' abundance. Large numbers of recovered carcasses and an absence of burrow activity at two small mainland colonies show the decline to extinction of these colonies over the five years of collecting data. At one mainland colony with intensive predator control, survival rates and parameter variances are comparable with those found on a predator-free offshore island. All other mainland colonies showed negligible breeding success. There was a significant positive relationship between egg survival and an index of relative adult survival, with an apparent threshold below which few eggs hatch. Adult survival during the breeding season is likely to be the most important parameter in maintaining a colony's viability.


2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 652-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Katherina Holenweg Peter

Using recent developments in capture–mark–recapture modelling, I analysed survival rates of adults of two species of water frogs, the parent species Rana lessonae and its sexual parasite, the hybrid Rana esculenta. Frogs were caught in four different breeding ponds between 1995 and 1998 and the effects of genotype (= species), sex, pond, and time on survival rates and recapture probabilities were tested. Survival rates were consistently higher in R. lessonae than in R. esculenta. Recapture probability was higher in males than in females. In both species, survival rates were constant during spring and summer and similar in all years of the investigation, average monthly survival rates being lower than those during autumn and winter. The variation in annual survival rates (72–84% for R. lessonae and 53–70% for R. esculenta) is probably caused by differences in winter survival rates. Capture–mark–recapture models cannot separate mortality and emigration and hence usually underestimate survival rates. To eliminate this source of error, I quantified emigration, which ranged from 0 to 29% at the four ponds. After correcting for these emigration rates, I found no differences in survival rates among the four ponds. The overall high survival rates of adult R. lessonae compared with R. esculenta partially compensate for the hybrid's initial reproductive advantage in terms of mating, fertility, and larval development and, hence, contribute to stabilising mixed populations.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismini Gkourtsouli-Antoniadou ◽  
Steven R. Ewing ◽  
George Hudson ◽  
Michael A. Pearson ◽  
Julia Schroeder ◽  
...  

Like many bird species associated with agricultural habitats in the UK, the Twite Linaria flavirostris has undergone severe declines over recent decades due to habitat degradation, with populations in England, Wales and Ireland now restricted to a few small pockets. However, the demographic drivers of these declines are still largely unresolved. We estimated the survival of Twite from a small population at the southernmost edge of the English range in Derbyshire using capture-mark-recapture data from 2016–2019. Annual apparent survival for juveniles (0.14–0.34) was lower than for adults (0.29–0.56) and less than that of other Cardueline finches. Our results suggest that low juvenile survival may be one demographic driver underpinning the recent decline of the Derbyshire Twite population, although we also cannot rule out the possibility that differences in emigration of juveniles and adults from the population also contribute to the observed age-specific apparent survival rates.


Biometrics ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter K. Kremers

2020 ◽  
pp. 6-9
Author(s):  
John Orr

The eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina, is a long-lived turtle species that is declining across much of its range. A mark-recapture study of this species was carried out for over thirty years at the Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. During this time, box turtles were relocated to the reserve and became part of the study. Several individuals were recaptured more than ten years after relocation including one that was recaptured after almost 28 years. Overall, however, turtles relocated to the study area appeared not to fare as well as resident turtles. Significantly fewer relocated turtles were recaptured after their first winter at the new site (33.3 %) than resident turtles (51.5 %) though the survival rates for relocated and resident turtles were similar for subsequent years. Relocation can work as a rescue strategy for some individuals but it can also negatively impact relocated individuals. This study is the first to show long-term residency of relocated box turtles.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara J. Oyler-McCance ◽  
Jennifer A. Fike ◽  
Paul M. Lukacs ◽  
Dale W. Sparks ◽  
Thomas J. O'Shea ◽  
...  

Abstract Genetic mark–recapture methods are increasingly being used to estimate demographic parameters in species where traditional techniques are problematic or imprecise. The federally endangered Indiana bat Myotis sodalis has declined dramatically and threats such as white-nose syndrome continue to afflict this species. To date, important demographic information for Indiana bats has been difficult to estimate precisely using traditional techniques such as emergence counts. Successful management and protection of Indiana bats requires better methods to estimate population sizes and survival rates throughout the year, particularly during summer when these bats reproduce and are widely dispersed away from their winter hibernacula. In addition, the familial makeup of maternity colonies is unknown, yet important for understanding local and regional population dynamics. We had four objectives in this study. For the first two objectives we investigated the potential use of DNA from fecal samples (fecal DNA) collected at roosts to obtain genetically based mark–recapture estimates of 1) colony size and 2) survival rates, for an Indiana bat maternity colony in Indianapolis, Indiana. The third objective was to compare our genetically based colony-size estimates with emergence counts conducted at the same roost tree to evaluate the genetic mark–recapture method. Our fourth objective was to use fecal DNA to estimate levels of relatedness among individuals sampled at the roost. In the summer of 2008, we collected fecal pellets and conducted emergence counts at a prominent roost tree during three time periods each lasting 7 or 8 d. We genotyped fecal DNA using five highly polymorphic microsatellite loci to identify individuals and used a robust-design mark–recapture approach to estimate survival rates as well as colony size at the roost tree. Emergence count estimates at the roost tree ranged from 100 to 215, whereas genetic mark–recapture estimates were higher, ranging from 122 to 266 and more precise. Apparent survival was 0.994 (SE = 0.04) between sampling periods suggesting that few bats died or permanently emigrated during the course of the study. Relatedness estimates, r, between all pairs of individuals averaged 0.055 ranging from 0 to 0.779, indicating that most individuals were not closely related. We demonstrate here the promise of using fecal DNA to estimate demographic information for Indiana bats and potentially other bat species.


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