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  • Tyler A Hallman
    Oak Creek Lab of BiologyOregon State UniversitySwiss Ornithological InstituteQueens University of CharlotteSchool of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Bangor University
  • W Douglas Robinson
    Oregon State University

Density and population estimates aid in conservation and stakeholder communication. While free and broadly available community science data can effectively inform species distribution models, they often lack the information necessary to estimate imperfect detection and area sampled, thus limiting their use in fine-scale density modeling. We used structured distance-sampling surveys to model detection probability and calculate survey-specific detection offsets in community science models. We estimated density and population for 16 songbird species under three frameworks: (1) a fixed framework that assumes perfect detection within a specified survey radius, (2) an independent framework that calculates offsets from an independent source, and (3) a calibration framework that calculates offsets from supplemental surveys. Within the calibration framework, we examined the effects of calibration dataset size and data pooling. Estimates of density and population size were consistently biased low in the fixed framework. The independent and calibration frameworks produced reliable estimates for some species, but biased estimates for others, indicating discrepancies in detection probability between structured and community science surveys. The calibration framework produced reliable population estimates with as few as 10 calibration surveys with positive detections. Data pooling dramatically decreased bias. This study provides conservationists and managers with a cost-effective method of estimating density and population.

Keywords

  • Population Density, Animals, Songbirds, Conservation of Natural Resources/methods, Surveys and Questionnaires
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11070
JournalScientific Reports
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 May 2024
Externally publishedYes
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