The Analysis of Continuous Mark-Recapture Data

Mark-Recapture methodology has been one of the majorexperimental methods for gaining information onwildlife populations over the last 100 years. Thestandard methodology for assessing mortality rates inopen populations (the Cormack-Jolly-Seber method andits expansions) has assumed that the recapture aredone instantaneously, or at least during a very shortinterval. This is often not the case as the samplingis often done during a season or a long term fieldtrip. This text presents methods for analysingcapture- and mortality rates from mark-recapture datawhere the data are not collected instantaneously, butmore or less continously. The metod is based onsemi-parametric models often used in survivalanalysis, such as the Kaplan-Meier or Cox models. Themethods are illustrated using real data on fish andbird poulations.