Alabama Project
Designing surveys for estimating biological truth
September 2022 - September 2026
Personnel
Participating Agencies
- Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
Surveys of unmarked animals can be used to answer many ecological research questions. Hierarchical abundance and occurrence models are frequently used to analyze such data when species are detected imperfectly, but assumptions are frequently violated when surveying mobile animals. We are working to develop sampling protocols that lead to unbiased estimates of occupancy and abundance to improve estimation of the true patterns and processes underlying the observed data. This work is being conducted in collaboration with researchers from numerous organizations including the Integral Ecology Research Center, College of William and Mary, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, University of St. Andrews, Michigan State University, California State Polytechnic University, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, National Audubon Society, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Georgia, and University of California, Los Angeles. We expect our findings to be used by researchers and managers around the globe to improve occupancy estimation.
Research Publications | Publication Date |
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Valente, J.J., V. Jirinec, and M. Leu. 2024. Thinking beyond the closure assumption: designing surveys for estimating biological truth with occupancy models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 15:2289-2300. | December 2024 |
Valente JJ, Adrean LJ, Nelson SK, Betts MG, Roby DD, and Rivers JW. 2024. Presence-absence surveys yield spatially imprecise information about nesting sites of an endangered, forest-nesting seabird. PLoS ONE 19:e0315531. | December 2024 |
Latif, QS, JJ Valente, A. Johnston, KL Davis, FA Fogarty, AW Green, GM Jones, M Leu, NL Michel, DC Pavlacky, EA Rigby, CS Rushing, JS Sanderlin, MW Tingley, and Q Zhao. 2024. Designing count-based studies in a world of hierarchical models. Journal of Wildlife Management, 88:e22622. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22622. | June 2024 |
Presentations | Presentation Date |
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Valente, J.J., V. Jirinec, and M. Leu (2024). Thinking beyond the closure assumption: designing surveys for estimating biological truth with occupancy models. 109th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Long Beach, CA, 4-9 August 2024. | August 2024 |
Parvin, L.K., and J.J. Valente (2025). Leveraging asymptotic regression models to enhance accuracy and comparability of occupancy estimates across studies and species. U.S. Geological Survey Annual Cooperators Meeting, Auburn, AL. | April 2025 |
Parvin, L.K., and J.J. Valente (2025). A novel modeling approach for standardizing and improving estimation of occupancy rates for mobile species. Alabama Chapter of the Wildlife Society annual meeting, Anniston, AL. | March 2025 |
Gans, D., J.F. Hall, and J.J. Valente. (2025). Effects of population changes and sampling heterogeneity on long-term changes in small mammal communities on Alabama State Lands. Auburn University Research Symposium, Auburn, AL. | March 2025 |