Folks, Thought I should close on this as Jeff helped me fix this problem, but it is not fully documented here.
I wanted to compute demographic parameters for two distinct populations of animals, sampled during similar time frames, with some non-overlap.
For Example, population A was sampled in 2005, 2010-2014
While population B was sampled in 2006, 2010-2014
I wanted to pool the data into one capture history for these populations because:
1) I wanted to test for differences in apparent recruitment and survival between the two populations using AIC,
2) I wanted to pool data to increase precision in detection probability, as detection is influenced by the same processes in both populations.
I used Pradel open models for this, specifically in RMArk language:
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model="RDPdfHuggins"
I padded the capture histories for each population with 0's where the other population received sampling. For example, Pop A had 4 sessions in 2005, while Pop B was not sampled during this period, so I added 4 0's to the beginning of every capture history for Pop B. Likewise, Pop B had 4 sessions in 2006 while Pop A was not sampled, so I added 4 0's, at 5th position in the the Pop A capture history (5th position because the first 4 occasions are the Pop A 2005 sampling)
My processing call looked as such:
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NEWDF.proc=process.data(ch, model="RDPdfHuggins",groups=(c("Pop")), begin.time=c(2005),time.intervals=c(0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,4,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0))
Where the start time is 2005 for both studies, the Pop (A and B) are distinct groups, and the 4 year gap between 2006-2010 is accommodated.
FINALLY, to assess the lack of sampling Pop A in 2006 and Pop B in 2005, I did the following:
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###FIX PARAMETERS
##p
NEWDF.ddl$p$fix=NA
NEWDF.ddl$p$fix[NEWDF.ddl$p$Pop=="A"&NEWDF.ddl$p$session=="2006"]=0
NEWDF.ddl$p$fix[NEWDF.ddl$p$Pop=="B"&NEWDF.ddl$p$session=="2005"]=0
NEWDF.ddl$c$fix=NA
NEWDF.ddl$c$fix[NEWDF.ddl$c$Pop=="A"&NEWDF.ddl$c$session=="2006"]=0
NEWDF.ddl$c$fix[NEWDF.ddl$c$Pop=="B"&NEWDF.ddl$c$session=="2005"]=0
This worked in the case of estimating a fixed apparent survival and recruitment rate over the period of study, which was my goal. I confirmed the validity of this with simulated data. Jeff tells me that the approach would be slightly different if I wanted time-varying estimated of survival, but it is possible. I have not tested it though.
Hope this helps someone in the future, I have received much help from this forum and am very grateful!