Models of random wildlife movement with an application to distance sampling

Abstract

In this paper we present three models of random wildlife movement: a one dimensional model of wildlife-observer encounters on roads, an analogous two dimensional model, and an further two-dimensional model that borrows from the ideas of statistical mechanics. We then derive unbiased estimates of wildlife density in terms of encounters for each of these models. By extending these results to incorporate uncertain detection, we suggest three novel distance sampling methods and briefly consider possible field applications.