Hello,
I have been running preliminary simulations using the package secr for a non-invasive genetic study that will estimate fisher density. Fisher home range varies from 15 km2 for females to 40km2 for males. I will be deploying detectors in a clustered design across the landscape, with two detectors per cluster. I have reached a point in my simulations where all of my least biased cluster and detector spacing results fall within relatively small ranges (spacing between clusters ranges from 3300-3500 m and detector spacing ranges from 250-500 m). All of these outputs have given me similar density estimates. How much of a difference would these few hundred meters make when choosing a final station layout design? Is it better to choose a longer detector spacing per cluster to make each station more independent? Should I choose a cluster spacing that will provide me with the highest number of detectors to potentially increase my sample size? I would appreciate any help you can provide.
Sincerely,
Caitlin Kupferman