Line transect lecture

Coastal fauna Transects (West-central Florida) Vegetation transects (Offwell, UK) Duck transects along roads (N. Dakota)

Example 1: UK Butterfly monitoring scheme

Bald eagles Red-tailed hawks Short-eared owls Example 2: Raptor Census - Kyle Elliott (2002) and the Vancouver Natural History Society

Q1. Why transects, not always quadrats? Q2. What are potential biases in method?

Animals (in particular): detection bias

Example: VNHS Raptor census (Elliott, 2002)

Two general methods (see Krebs) 1.Distance from random point to organism. 2. Distance from randomly selected organism to neighbouring organism. 1 2

Two general methods (see Krebs) 1.Distance from random point to organism. r Area of circle (π r 2 ) contains one individual Inverse of: Density = individuals per unit area nearest

Two general methods (see Krebs) 1.Distance from random point to organism. r r r All methods: calculate area per individual for each circle, calculate mean area per indiv., invert = n π sum (r 2 ) byth-ripley

Two general methods (see Krebs) 1.Distance from random point to organism. r r r If look at third closest organism, we are calculating area per three organisms, or if divide by three, mean area per organism (n = 3). = 3n - 1 π sum (r 2 ) ordered distance

Two general methods (see Krebs) 1.Distance from random point to organism. 2. Distance from randomly selected organism to neighbouring organism. 1 2

Two general methods (see Krebs) 2. Distance from randomly selected organism to neighbouring organism. r Area per two individuals, but two circles: cancels out to same π r 2 formula as before

Two general methods (see Krebs) 2. Distance from randomly selected organism to neighbouring organism. r Area per two individuals, but two circles: cancels out to same π r 2 formula as before = n π sum (r 2 ) byth-ripley

Two general methods (see Krebs) 2. Distance from randomly selected organism to neighbouring organism. Problem: how to randomly select first individual? Nearest organism to a random point: BIASED Never selected Frequently selected

WAYS TO RESOLVE PROBLEM: 1.Mark all organisms with a number, and then randomly select a few. BUT if we could count all organisms, we wouldn’t need a census!

WAYS TO RESOLVE PROBLEM: 1.Mark all organisms with a number, and then randomly select a few. 2.Use a random subset of the area (mark organisms in random quadrats). Byth and Ripley

WAYS TO RESOLVE PROBLEM: 1.Mark all organisms with a number, and then randomly select a few. 2.Use a random subset of the area (mark organisms in random quadrats). 3.Use a random point to locate organisms, but then ignore area between it and quadrat (biased to emptiness). T-square

Dartboard analogy for precision/ accuracy Accurate but not precise Precise but not accurate True value

Spatial pattern More uniformMore aggregatedRandom

Line transect lab next Monday How will we distribute students among transects? Expect cold weather and rain. Dress appropriately. How will you record your data? In the rain?