Use of Distance Sampling to Estimate Sitka Black-tailed Deer Abundances in Non-forested Habitats of Kodiak Island, Alaska
Published By US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior
Issued más de 9 años ago
Summary
Description
Maximizing Sitka blacktailed deer Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis harvestopportunities on Kodiak Island, and minimizing deer impacts on native flora andfauna, are the primary goals of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, but thesegoals require statisticallyrobust estimates of trends in deer abundance. Weevaluated the feasibility of using distance sampling, applied to traditional linetransectaerial counts, to estimate, with statistical confidence, abundances of Sitkablacktailed deer in nonforested habitats of Kodiak Island. We completed 3aerial survey replicates on the Aliulik Peninsula of Kodiak Island, between 16May and 22 May, 2012. We observed an average of 64 deer in 39 groups persurvey. After correcting for estimated deer detection using Program Distance 6.0,which took into account distance to the observer and habitat type, we estimatedthat there were 115 deer SE15.82 on the Aliulik Peninsula. Moreover, wedemonstrated that distance sampling can be used to produce statistically robustestimates of trends in deer abundance, in nonforested regions of Kodiak Island.We provide recommendations for adapting the distance sampling method tosurvey deer across a wider region of Kodiak Island.