estimating birth rate

[AKJohn]

I'm new to and still learning program MARK, so please forgive me if this question is too mundane. I'm into Chapter 8 of "A Gentle Introduction" and trying to determine from the example in section 8.2 the actual proportion of animals that are in state "B". I understand how to calculate the transition from "N" to "B" and from "B" to "B" but it is not entirely clear how to average these to get an estimate, and associated error, for how many animals are in state "B" for any given model. Is there a clear and easy way to do this in MARK? Thanks.

--AKJohn

[cooch]

I'm new to and still learning program MARK, so please forgive me if this question is too mundane. I'm into Chapter 8 of "A Gentle Introduction" and trying to determine from the example in section 8.2 the actual proportion of animals that are in state "B". I understand how to calculate the transition from "N" to "B" and from "B" to "B" but it is not entirely clear how to average these to get an estimate, and associated error, for how many animals are in state "B" for any given model. Is there a clear and easy way to do this in MARK? Thanks.

--AKJohn

Look at the estimation of 'gamma' in Nichols et al. (1994 - Ecology 75: 2052-2065).

[AKJohn]

Thanks for the reply. Yet, it seems that Nichols' et al. estimation of gamma is somewhat unsatisfactory because it does not account for survival probalities of unsighted animals. I know I still have a lot to learn - maybe I'll get back to you with more questions after I get through Chapter 15. Thanks again.

[cooch]

Thanks for the reply. Yet, it seems that Nichols' et al. estimation of gamma is somewhat unsatisfactory because it does not account for survival probalities of unsighted animals. I know I still have a lot to learn - maybe I'll get back to you with more questions after I get through Chapter 15. Thanks again.

Uh, nope. Survival, and encounter rate, are estimated for marked individuals, and conditions on the encounter history, which includes information from nonsighted individuals.

Given and estimate of p(state), where p(state) gives you the encounter probability for a breeder or nonbreeder, then eqn. (2) from Nichols et al. is all you need.