Dealing with uncertainty in population monitoring for conservation
Date:
Summary
Identifying where conservation actions are necessary and assessing whether management is effective both depend upon a reliable knowledge of species distributions and population trends. However, humans are imperfect observers and there are many types of error that creep into datasets when we carry out monitoring fieldwork. In this talk I will introduce some of these forms of observation error, discuss how they arise and illustrate how ignoring them can lead us to draw incorrect conclusions as to the status of biodiversity. Drawing on examples from monitoring amphibian and reptile populations in Switzerland, I will present methods by which bias from observer errors can be mitigated, and discuss some implications for the design of monitoring programs.