Bayesian Capture-Recapture Analysis: An Application in Modeling Semelparity of a Neotropical Didelphid Marsupial

Abstract

We develop a series of Bayesian statistical models for estimating survival of a neotropic didelphid marsupial, the Brazilian gracile mouse opossum (Gracilinanus microtarsus). These models are based on the Cormack–Jolly–Seber model (Cormack, 1964; Jolly 1965; Seber 1965) with both survival and recapture rates expressed as a function of covariates using a logit link. The proposed models allow taking into account heterogeneity in capture probability caused by the existence of different groups of individuals in the population. The models were applied to two cohorts (Cohort, 2000, 2001) with the first one including 14 and the second one 15 sampling occasions. The best models for each of the cohorts indicate that G. microtarsus is best described as partially semelparous, a condition in which mortality after the first mating is high but graded over time, with a fraction of males surviving for a second breeding season (Boonstra, 2005).

Keywords:

• Capture-recapture
• Logit link
• MCMC
• Open populations
• Semelparity

Mathematics Subject Classification:

• 62C10
• 62P12