Abundance in Animals Capture-Recapture

Results: Count Total number captured Total number recaptured 1 43 5 2 35 2 3 44 5 4 35 4 5 33 1 6 33 1 7 31 4 8 38 6 9 34 6 10 34 8 Total average per sample 36 4.2

Actual number of smarties in container = 148 Estimated number of smarties in container = 171.43 (C2DP) Discussion: 1. How close to the actual number was your estimate of the population? The actual number of smarties in the container was 148, and the calculations showed the estimated number of smarties to be 171.43 (or 171 smarties correct to the nearest whole number). This means that the estimated number was 23 smarties off from the actual number of smarties. 2. Can you account for any discrepancy? Some of the results had very high ranges and the difference between the lowest and the highest numbers may have caused the estimated number to that far from the actual number. For example in the total captured, the difference between the highest result and the lowest result was 13, and for the total number recaptured the difference was 7. If the results for these two sections were slightly closer to each other so that there was such a large difference between the highest and the lowest number, the estimate may have came out slightly closer. It was most probable that the results for the total number captured in the 1st and 3rd count that made such a large difference 3. Would you ever expect this method to be 100% accurate? Why? This method was never made to be 100% accurate and in most cases will never be 100% accurate as it is only an estimate of the amount that may be there using the results from averages of smaller samples. 4. Would this be a suitable method to estimate the number of trees in a forest? Why? This method is best used on animals or other things that are not in the same place all the time such as trees. It would be better to use quadrats and the density formula to estimate the number of trees in a forest. 5. Calculate the abundance of animals in an area 1m2 as represented by the smarties in the model. Total animals in 1m2 would also be equal to the number of animals in the total area (10m2) divided by 10. This would be: 148/10 = 14.8 animals or 15 animals correct to the nearest whole number. Further: Outline a method (based on the Peterson capture-recapture technique) that you could use for estimating the abundance of slaters in leaf litter. Give special consideration to: The size of are to be studied

The method of capture (e.g. sieve, funnel, net...) The method of tagging (e.g. paint, tattoo, radio transmitter...) The time interval between capture and recapture - non-toxic red paint - small paintbrush - 0.5m X 0.5m quadrat that has at least a few centimetres of height - a bucket - a berlese funnel - an object to pick up the leaf litter to place in berlese funnel

Equipment:

Method: 1. Set up an area of 5m2. area. 3. Collect the leaf litter inside the quadrat and place in the berlese funnel with the bucket under the funnel so it collects the slaters. 4. Turn on the light on top of the berlese funnel so that the slaters try to escape the light and go down to the lower part of the funnel then into the bucket. 5. Mark all collected slaters in the bucket by painting red paint onto the upper part of their body. 6. Wait for the paint to dry then release the slaters and the leaf litter back to the area they came from. 7. Repeat for the other 9 quadrats. 8. Wait one week then return to same 5m2 area. 9. Set up the first of 10 quadrants, and then repeat the berlese funnel process. 10. Count the total number of slaters in the bucket as well as the number of marked slaters that were recaptured. 11. Record results. 12. Repeat for the other 9 quadrants. 13. Use the Abundance= (no. of marked animals X average no. of animals recaptured) Average no. of marked animals recaptured formula to calculate the estimated number of slaters in the 5m2. Conclusion: The use of the capture-recapture model is good at estimating the number of animals or moving creatures, but is not the best technique for observing and estimating the number of non-moving objects such as trees. This model also uses the assumption that all the animals are going to stay in the area of space that is being assessed, whereas in the real world, the animals may move around with may leaving the designated area, as well as many entering it as well not to mention the impact that the migration of the animals may have on the results as well. This model also doesnt take into consideration how many of the animal, if this factor was taken into consideration; the results may vary more in the long run. All in all, it was an excellent way of portraying the capture-recapture method, 2. Set up the first of 10 quadrats by randomly throwing the quadrat inside the designated