We are pleased to announce 2 recent publications that may be of interest. Both papers, which include accompanying R code, are Open Access. Timothy A. Gowan, Nathan J. Crum, Jason J. Roberts. 2021. An open spatial capture-recapture model for estimating density, movement, and population dynamics from line-transect surveys. Ecology and Evolution [Early View] https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7566 Abstract: The purpose of many wildlife population studies is to estimate density, movement, or demographic parameters. Linking these parameters to covariates, such as habitat features, provides additional ecological insight and can be used to make predictions for management purposes. Line-transect surveys, combined with distance sampling methods, are often used to estimate density at discrete points in time, whereas capture-recapture methods are used to estimate movement and other demographic parameters. Recently, open population spatial capture-recapture models have been developed, which simultaneously estimate density and demographic parameters, but have been made available only for data collected from a fixed array of detectors and have not incorporated the effects of habitat covariates. We developed a spatial capture-recapture model that can be applied to line-transect survey data by modeling detection probability in a manner analogous to distance sampling. We extend this model to a) estimate demographic parameters using an open population framework and b) model variation in density and space use as a function of habitat covariates. The model is illustrated using simulated data and aerial line-transect survey data for North Atlantic right whales in the southeastern United States, which also demonstrates the ability to integrate data from multiple survey platforms and accommodate differences between strata or demographic groups. When individuals detected from line-transect surveys can be uniquely identified, our model can be used to simultaneously make inference on factors that influence spatial and temporal variation in density, movement, and population dynamics. Nathan J. Crum, Lisa C. Neyman, Timothy A. Gowan. 2021. Abundance estimation for line transect sampling: A comparison of distance sampling and spatial capture-recapture models. PLoS ONE 16(5): e0252231 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252231 Abstract: Accurate and precise abundance estimation is vital for informed wildlife conservation and management decision-making. Line transect surveys are a common sampling approach for abundance estimation. Distance sampling is often used to estimate abundance from line transect survey data; however, search encounter spatial capture-recapture can also be used when individuals in the population of interest are identifiable. The search encounter spatial capture-recapture model has rarely been applied, and its performance has not been compared to that of distance sampling. We analyzed simulated datasets to compare the performance of distance sampling and spatial capture-recapture abundance estimators. Additionally, we estimated the abundance of North Atlantic right whales in the southeastern United States with two formulations of each model and compared the estimates. Spatial capture-recapture abundance estimates had lower root mean squared error than distance sampling estimates. Spatial capture-recapture 95% credible intervals for abundance had nominal coverage, i.e., contained the simulating value for abundance in 95% of simulations, whereas distance sampling credible intervals had below nominal coverage. Moreover, North Atlantic right whale abundance estimates from distance sampling models were more sensitive to model specification compared to spatial capture-recapture estimates. When estimating abundance from line transect data, researchers should consider using search encounter spatial capture-recapture when individuals in the population of interest are identifiable, when line transects are surveyed over multiple occasions, when there is imperfect detection of individuals located on the line transect, and when it is safe to assume the population of interest is closed demographically. When line transects are surveyed over multiple occasions, researchers should be aware that individual space use may induce spatial autocorrelation in counts across transects. This is not accounted for in common distance sampling estimators and leads to overly precise abundance estimates. ------------------- Timothy Gowan Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute 100 8th Avenue SE St. Petersburg, FL 33701 tim.gowan@myfwc.com<mailto:tim.gowan@myfwc.com>