New paper on making the most of mark-recapture survey data

A novel approach to dealing with complex capture-mark-recapture data has been published in the journal Ecology & Evolution, by MIMMP postdoc, Chris Oosthuizen, and colleagues.

In life‐history analysis, the best solution to deal with unobservable states is to eliminate them altogether. In this paper, the authors achieve this objective by fitting novel multievent‐robust design models which combines robust design capture data collected during discrete breeding seasons with observations made at other times of the year. They use this approach to estimate breeding probabilities of female elephant seals. This flexible modeling approach can easily be adapted to suit sampling designs from numerous species which may be encountered during and outside of discrete breeding seasons. To read the full paper click here.