Catch-Effort Estimation of Population Parameters under the Robust Design

Catch-effort models, as well as models for many other animal abundance estimation techniques, are distinctly divided in their application to either closed or open populations. Pollock (1982, Journal of Wildlife Management 46, 752-757) first attempted combining open-population and closed-population models in the capture-recapture literature and constructed what is now known as the robust design. In light of the advantages of the capture-recapture robust design, a similar sampling scheme is of interest in the catch-effort estimation framework. Here a description of the robust design for catch-effort methods is provided, complete with explicit maximum likelihood estimators for a range of open models. The presence of mortality and recruitment are handled in the model development sequentially. Monte Carlo simulations were used to evaluate the performance of maximum likelihood estimators under the robust design in comparison with a previously defined regression estimator. The robust design provided for greater model flexibility and in almost all circumstances produced maximum likelihood estimators that were superior to those estimated by regression methods. The advantages of the robust design are discussed for a variety of modeling scenarios.

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