Transects and covariates

[lstuemke]

Within my single-season repeated sampling scheme I am using transects as one of my two different detection methods. Along those repeated transects/discrete visits I am collecting covariates along the transects at random points. For example on one transect I could have 5 different values for canopy height. How do I incorporate these covariates into the PRESENCE matrix without combining or averaging them into one value? Does anyone have some advise on this?

Thanks,
leigh stuemke

[giancarlo]

If you can reasonably associate each random point with a segment of transect (e.g., if they are spaced equally along a transect), you could, in theory, treat each segment as a spatial subsample and use the spatial correlation single-season model (see Hines, J.E., Nichols, J.D., Royle, J.A., Mackenzie, D.I., Gopalaswamy, A.M., Kumar, N.S. & Karanth, K.U., In press. Tigers on trails: Occupancy modeling for cluster sampling. Ecological Applications). -Giancarlo

[lstuemke]

Thank you for the suggestion, I will have to look into this.