rdf-syntax-grammar
mods:
  schema location: http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
  title info:
    title: Assessing populations in complex systems
  name:
    name part: Cooke, Jerry Lynn
    name part: 1950-
    role:
      role term: creator
  name:
    name part: Archer, Steven R.
    role:
      role term: degree committee member.
  name:
    name part: Grant, William E.
    role:
      role term: degree committee member.
  name:
    name part: Matis, James H.
    role:
      role term: degree committee member.
  name:
    name part: Risenhoover, Kenneth L.
    role:
      role term: degree supervisor.
  name:
    name part: Texas A & M University
    role:
      role term: degree granting institution.
  type of resource: text
  genre: bibliography
  genre: Academic theses
  origin info:
    place:
      place term: xx
    date issued: 1993
    issuance: monographic
  language:
    language term: eng
  physical description:
    form: print
    extent: xiv, 142 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm
  abstract: Surveys of wild populations seldom satisfy assumptions fundamental to the survey techniques used to assess them (i.e., spatial distributions tend to be nonrandom). When sample sizes (i.e., number of observations) are small, or observations are taken without considering independence, assessments of density are likely to be biased. For the purposes of this dissertation, I use the term bias in referring to a systematic distortion of an estimate (operational bias) caused by the sampling procedures that are employed, rather than distortion of the expected value from all possible observations (statistical bias). Bias is exacerbated when the variance-to-mean ratio of the estimated population parameter is scale-sensitive because observations have an inherent scale independent of the population's scale. Density estimates from transects may be biased by differences (1) between the scale of the transect (i.e., a reflection of the area to perimeter ratio) and the scale of animal spacing, or (2) between the scale of the transect (i.e., a reflection of the observed variance-to-mean ratio in a scale-sensitive system) and the scale at which a random distribution of animals can be observed. Each of these sources of bias may be used to remediate (i.e., measure and remove bias) observations and produce unbiased estimates of density. I demonstrate that differences in the behavior of sex-age classes within a population, can lead to class-specific biases with one class being overestimated while another is underestimated. Using aerial surveys of south Texas white-tailed deer populations, I show how these biases can confound assessments of populations in fragmented or disturbed landscapes, or communities where changes in the population of one species occurs independent of other populations. Using simulations and field surveys of desert mule deer in Big Bend National Park, Texas, I show how validation of spatial models can be confounded when biased population estimates fail to match the sca…
  note: "Major subject: Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences."
  note: Vita.
  note: Ph. D. Texas A & M University 1993
  note: Includes bibliographical references.
  subject:
    topic: Major wildlife and fisheries sciences
  identifier: http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login
  identifier: https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/DISSERTATIONS-1523753
  identifier: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl
  related item:
    location:
      url: http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login
  related item:
    location:
      url: https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/DISSERTATIONS-1523753
  related item:
    location:
      url: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl
  record info:
    record content source: TXA
    record creation date: 960322
    record change date: 20220103134923.0
    record identifier: in00001275235
    language of cataloging:
      language term: eng