A multievent approach to estimating pair fidelity and heterogeneity in state transitions.

ABSTRACT: Fidelity rates of pair-bonded individuals are of considerable interest to behavioral and population biologists as they can influence population structure, mating rates, population productivity, and gene flow. Estimates of fidelity rates calculated from direct observations of pairs in consecutive breeding seasons may be biased because (i) individuals that are not seen are assumed to be dead, (ii) variation in the detectability of individuals is ignored, and (iii) pair status must be known with certainty. This can lead to a high proportion of observations being ignored. This approach also restricts the way variation in fidelity rates for different types of individuals, or the covariation between fidelity and other vital rates (e.g., survival) can be analyzed. In this study, we develop a prob

SUBMITTER: Culina A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3856734 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature