Help in choosing a manual

[jenmarlton]

I am doing a project this year to determine the population size of brown hyaena in a 22000ha fenced off reserve using camera-trapping for capture-mark-recapture or resight. I am thinking along the lines, after reading the first 3.5 chapters of the online book and chapter 18 and chapter 14, that I should be using a closed captures model and more specifically that Huggins model. I'm not sure I understand all the equations and explanations in the book or whether i need to but please would someone let me know if I'm on thr right track. this is my first time doing a mark-recapture study.

Thanks
Jenni

[murray.efford]

Jenni
The critical thing is that your area is fenced, and that cameras were spread throughout the fenced area. In this case, conventional closed population models apply, and the Huggins model is a useful option if you have information on individuals that might help explain differences in encounter rate. You could also look at spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) methods that are not part of MARK e.g. the Density software www.otago.ac.nz/density (see the Efford et al. 2009 paper for methods specific to camera traps, Density also computes Huggins estimates and a graphic interface that some find more friendly) and/or the recent paper by Royle et al. in J Applied Ecology 46:118-127. There is a case for using SECR even with a fenced population in that it allows for individual heterogeneity due to the variable location of home ranges in relation to cameras. Whether this is relevant depends on the number & distribution of cameras and the size of home ranges.
Murray