Occupancy Estimation and Modeling Workshop
31 May – 2 June 2006
Texas State University
San Marcos, Texas
Darryl MacKenzie,
Proteus Wildlife Research Consultants
Jim Nichols,
Jim Hines,
Larissa Bailey,
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
The presence or absence of a species at locations within a landscape
(occupancy) is a concept widely used in ecology (e.g., as a monitoring metric,
species range or distribution, habitat modeling, resource selection probability
functions, metapopulation studies, biodiversity and
species co-occurrence). However, often a species may be present at a site but
go undetected by the sampling technique. This will result in "false
absences" causing occupancy to be underestimated and parameter estimates
to be potentially badly biased, even with moderate levels of imperfect detection.
Conclusions about how occupancy changes over time may also be unreliable if the
detectability of the species is not accounted for.
In this 3-day workshop we shall cover,
- estimating and modeling occupancy at a single point in time
- estimating and modeling changes in occupancy over time
- using occupancy-type metrics in multi-species and community studies
- key aspects to designing an efficient occupancy study
- available computer software with worked examples
The draft programme for the workshop is available
here.
A bibliography of recent literature on this subject is available here. There will also be
an opportunity for participants to discuss their own applications with the
group, and analyze their own data under the instructors’ supervision.
The attendance fee for the workshop is $350 (USD). This fee includes a
copy of the instructors’ new book Occupancy
estimation and modeling: inferring patterns and dynamics of species occurrence.
Texas State University - San Marcos is
located about 35 miles south of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
(AUS). A shuttle service is available from this airport for about $60 each way
(
SuperShuttle, ph 512-929-3900 ext. 2). A list of hotels
and restaurants, along with possible university dormitory housing, will be
provided at a later date.
If you have any questions about course content, please contact any of the
instructors at the links shown above. For other inquires, please email
Jeff Hatfield
or complete and return the registration
form to the address shown on the form.
This workshop is sponsored in part by the "Population and Conservation
Biology" and "Wildlife Ecology" programs at
Texas State University