simulations with closed-capture models

[vincenzo gervasi]

Hi,
I am a begginer of MARK and mark-recapture, which I'm using for my work on population dynamics of Italian brown bears. This is my question: when using MARK simulation procedure for a closed capture model, which is the value I should enter for the last Beta, which usually refers to N? Since I'm using an identity link, I suppose it is the real population size, but I'm not sure. Is this value the same as the one to enter in the "Population Sizes" tab?

Thank you.

[gwhite]

Vincenzo:
You can enter anything for the N beta value, because the tab for Population Size dictates this parameter. I originally used this value in simulations, but had to discard it because of the Huggins models (where N is not in the likelihood), and later the mis-identification models (again where N is not in the likelihood). So, I converted all of the closed captures models to use the Population Size value specified, and in the case of models where N is in the likelihood, to ignore the entry.

Gary

[vincenzo gervasi]

Thank you,
This will be very useful!

Sorry for bothering you,
Vincenzo