Careful design of a wildlife population monitoring strategy is necessary to obtain accurate and precise results whether the purpose of the survey is development of habitat suitability models, to estimate abundance, or assess site occupancy. Important characteristics to consider in survey design are sources of elevated variability, particularly within‐subject variability, which increases the amount of data needed to achieve statistical certainty either in terms of population trend analysis, hypothesis testing, or statistical power. However, alternative objectives, such as associating counts with habitat characteristics, may benefit from increased variation among counts when differences covary with habitat measures. This difference can result in competing needs when developing survey protocols. We investigated the relative precision of differing gamebird monitoring protocols to identify methods with the greatest statistical efficiency. We assessed call‐count transects using standard Breeding Bird Survey protocols (Passive call‐counts) and modified by including longer survey periods and call playback (Active call‐counts), autonomous recording units with supervised call detection (ARU‐recorded calls), camera traps, and roadside covey‐counts for Gambel's quail (Callipepla gambelii) in the Mojave Desert (CA, USA) during the spring of 2016. Active call‐counts had the lowest within‐site variation relative to estimated population index values, but Passive call‐count transects may be more efficient for some purposes because more survey stations can be completed within a single survey timeframe. The ARU‐recorded calls may provide a suitable alternative despite larger sample size needs, especially for occupancy surveys because multiple units can be deployed concurrently. The ultimate sample size required will depend on specific study objectives and scope of interest, but camera traps and breeding‐season covey counts are not likely to meet objectives in desert environments. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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莫哈韦沙漠中Gambel鹌鹑的调查变异性及其对调查设计的启示

无论调查的目的是开发栖息地适宜性模型，估算数量或评估场所占用率，都必须仔细设计野生动物种群监测策略，以获取准确和精确的结果。问卷设计中要考虑的重要特征是变异性升高的原因，尤其是受试者内部变异性，这增加了在人口趋势分析，假设检验或统计功效方面实现统计确定性所需的数据量。但是，当差异与栖息地度量同时变化时，替代目标（例如将计数与栖息地特征相关联）可能会受益于计数之间的差异增加。在制定调查方案时，这种差异可能导致竞争需求。我们调查了不同的猎鸟监视协议的相对精度，以确定具有最高统计效率的方法。我们使用标准的“鸟类繁殖调查”协议（被动呼叫计数）评估了呼叫计数样线，并对其进行了修改，包括更长的调查时间和呼叫回放（主动呼叫计数），具有监督呼叫检测功能的自主记录单元（ARU记录的呼叫），摄像机诱捕器和Gambel鹌鹑的路边计数（2016年春季，在莫哈韦沙漠（美国，加利福尼亚州）的Callipepla gambelii）。相对于估计的人口指数值，主动呼叫计数的现场变异最小，但出于某些目的，被动呼叫计数样线可能更有效，因为可以在一个调查时间内完成更多的调查站。尽管需要更大的样本量，但ARU记录的呼叫可能会提供合适的替代方法，尤其是对于占用率调查而言，因为可以同时部署多个单元。所需的最终样本量将取决于具体的研究目标和关注范围，但是相机诱捕装置和繁殖季节的计数不可能满足沙漠环境中的目标。©2020野生动物协会。