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Abundance Determination of Large Mammals with Distance Sampling Perspective, the Case of Elephants of the Mole National Park (MNP) of Ghana

Received: 30 November 2022     Accepted: 3 January 2023     Published: 18 May 2023
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Abstract

Distance sampling with line transect method has been applied by many researchers to monitor and observe varied animals and plants with the aim of determining the population density and or abundance of animals. The application of this method has not received the needed attention in Ghana, in particular to monitor, observe, and estimate the densities and abundance of animals and plants in the game reserves of the Mole National Park (MNP) is not without exception and the statistics of these are always reported based on guesses and without any scientific proof. This study has seen the application of line transect methodology in the MNP in which the abundance estimates are statistically determined with both the classical and Bayesian philosophies of statistical approaches. An alternative means of detectability estimation using the total probability concept has been established to enhance the probability of detection of a rare and elusive population of large mammals. In performing statistical investigations on rare and elusive population, it appears insufficient to model from the classical perspective, the use of PRIOR knowledge as seen in the Bayesian context cannot be underestimated. This study proposed that the concept of Total Probability with prior knowledge of animals and plants in line transect surveys must be well embraced, Periodic censuss must be conducted regularly to help in establishing the rate of extinction of units of interest in wildlife and Distance sampling data with line transect sampling methodology need not be analysed using only the classical reasoning. Attention must be given to the existence and availability of prior knowledge of the units under study.

Published in American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics (Volume 12, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajtas.20231202.11
Page(s) 18-31
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Distance Sampling, Detectability, Line Transect, Density, Abundance, Data Augmentation, Mole National Park

References
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[4] Briggs, K. T., Tyler, W. B. and Lewis, D. B. (1985). Aerial surveys for seabirds: methodological experiments. Journal of Wildlife Management, 49.
[5] Burnham, K. P. and Anderson, D. R. (1976). Mathematical Models for non-parametric inferences from line transect data. Biometrics, 32, 325 – 36.
[6] Buckland, S. T., Rexstad, E. A., Marques, T. A., Oedekoven, C. S. (2015). Modelling Detection Functions. In: Distance Sampling: Methods and Applications. Methods in Statistical Ecology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19219-2_5
[7] Buckland, S. T., D. R. Anderson, K. P. Burnham, J. L. Laake, D. L. Borchers and L. Thomas (2001). Introduction to Distance Sampling: Estimating Abundance of Biological Populations, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[8] Buckland S. T., Anderson D. R., Burnham K. P. & Laake J. L. (1993). Distance sampling Estimating abundance of biological populations. Chapman & Hall, London.
[9] Buckland S. T., Goudie I. B. J. & Borchers D. L. (2000). Wildlife population assessment: past developments and future directions. Biometrics 56, 1-12.
[10] Burnham, K. P., Anderson D. R. & Laake, J. L. (1980). Estimation of density from line transects sampling of biological populations. Wildlife Monographs 72: 1-202.
[11] Cassey P. & McArdle B. H. (1999). An assessment of distance sampling techniques for estimating animal abundance. Environmetrics 10, 261-78.
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[16] Hayward M. W., de Tores P. J., Dillon M. J., Fox B. J. & Banks P. B. (2005). Using faecal pellet counts along transects to estimate quokka (Setonix brachyurus) population density. Wildlife Research 32, 503-7.
[17] Katara S., S. K Amponsah and Bashiru I. I. S. (2018). Distributional analysis with line transect methodology of the distance sampling techniques: Case of large mammals of the Mole National Park (MNP) of Ghana. African Journal of Mathematics and Computer Science Research. 11 (1), 1-13.
[18] Len Thomas, Stephen T. Buckland, Kenneth P. Burnham, David R. Anderson, Jeffrey L. Laake, David L. Borchers & Samantha Strindberg (2002). Distance Sampling, Volume 1, pp 544–552 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, in Encyclopaedia of Environmetrics (ISBN 0471 899976).
[19] Marques, T. A., Thomas, L., Fancy, S. G., and S. T. Buckland (2007). Improving estimates of bird density using multiple covariate distance sampling. The Auk. 124: 1229 – 1243.
[20] Marshall A. R., Lovett J. C. & White P. C. L. (2008). Selection of line-transect methods for estimating the density of group-living animals: lessons from the primates. American Journal of Primatology 70, 452-62.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Katara Salifu. (2023). Abundance Determination of Large Mammals with Distance Sampling Perspective, the Case of Elephants of the Mole National Park (MNP) of Ghana. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 12(2), 18-31. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20231202.11

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    ACS Style

    Katara Salifu. Abundance Determination of Large Mammals with Distance Sampling Perspective, the Case of Elephants of the Mole National Park (MNP) of Ghana. Am. J. Theor. Appl. Stat. 2023, 12(2), 18-31. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.20231202.11

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    AMA Style

    Katara Salifu. Abundance Determination of Large Mammals with Distance Sampling Perspective, the Case of Elephants of the Mole National Park (MNP) of Ghana. Am J Theor Appl Stat. 2023;12(2):18-31. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.20231202.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajtas.20231202.11,
      author = {Katara Salifu},
      title = {Abundance Determination of Large Mammals with Distance Sampling Perspective, the Case of Elephants of the Mole National Park (MNP) of Ghana},
      journal = {American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics},
      volume = {12},
      number = {2},
      pages = {18-31},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajtas.20231202.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20231202.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajtas.20231202.11},
      abstract = {Distance sampling with line transect method has been applied by many researchers to monitor and observe varied animals and plants with the aim of determining the population density and or abundance of animals. The application of this method has not received the needed attention in Ghana, in particular to monitor, observe, and estimate the densities and abundance of animals and plants in the game reserves of the Mole National Park (MNP) is not without exception and the statistics of these are always reported based on guesses and without any scientific proof. This study has seen the application of line transect methodology in the MNP in which the abundance estimates are statistically determined with both the classical and Bayesian philosophies of statistical approaches. An alternative means of detectability estimation using the total probability concept has been established to enhance the probability of detection of a rare and elusive population of large mammals. In performing statistical investigations on rare and elusive population, it appears insufficient to model from the classical perspective, the use of PRIOR knowledge as seen in the Bayesian context cannot be underestimated. This study proposed that the concept of Total Probability with prior knowledge of animals and plants in line transect surveys must be well embraced, Periodic censuss must be conducted regularly to help in establishing the rate of extinction of units of interest in wildlife and Distance sampling data with line transect sampling methodology need not be analysed using only the classical reasoning. Attention must be given to the existence and availability of prior knowledge of the units under study.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Abundance Determination of Large Mammals with Distance Sampling Perspective, the Case of Elephants of the Mole National Park (MNP) of Ghana
    AU  - Katara Salifu
    Y1  - 2023/05/18
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    T2  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
    JF  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
    JO  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20231202.11
    AB  - Distance sampling with line transect method has been applied by many researchers to monitor and observe varied animals and plants with the aim of determining the population density and or abundance of animals. The application of this method has not received the needed attention in Ghana, in particular to monitor, observe, and estimate the densities and abundance of animals and plants in the game reserves of the Mole National Park (MNP) is not without exception and the statistics of these are always reported based on guesses and without any scientific proof. This study has seen the application of line transect methodology in the MNP in which the abundance estimates are statistically determined with both the classical and Bayesian philosophies of statistical approaches. An alternative means of detectability estimation using the total probability concept has been established to enhance the probability of detection of a rare and elusive population of large mammals. In performing statistical investigations on rare and elusive population, it appears insufficient to model from the classical perspective, the use of PRIOR knowledge as seen in the Bayesian context cannot be underestimated. This study proposed that the concept of Total Probability with prior knowledge of animals and plants in line transect surveys must be well embraced, Periodic censuss must be conducted regularly to help in establishing the rate of extinction of units of interest in wildlife and Distance sampling data with line transect sampling methodology need not be analysed using only the classical reasoning. Attention must be given to the existence and availability of prior knowledge of the units under study.
    VL  - 12
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Author Information
  • Department of Statistics, Faculty of Physical Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

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