Date of Award
5-17-2022
Document Type
Masters Project
Abstract
The Rivest method is the standard way to estimate caribou herd sizes in Alaska and the northern Canadian provinces. Biologists employ radio telemetry to detect discrete groups that make up the wider herd; the Rivest estimator provides an approximate herd size by enumerating the collared and uncollared animals within each group. A key assumption of this technique is that collared caribou mix randomly amongst the wider herd. In this report I scrutinize the accuracy of the Rivest estimator and evaluate three competing hypothesis tests for testing its random-mixing assumption under simulated conditions. The Fisher’s Exact Test is the optimal test for detecting violations of random-mixing. I found the Rivest method underestimates caribou herd size in simulations where the random-mixing assumption was violated to a large degree.
Recommended Citation
Roberts, Christopher Lloyd, "Testing assumptions and bias of a caribou population estimator through Monte Carlo simulation" (2022). Mathematics and Statistics . 60.
https://ualaska.researchcommons.org/uaf_grad_math_stats/60
Handle
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14698