Project
Hi there! My name is Laura, and I am a Master student working on the ungulate project together with Daniel Breitenmoser and Benedikt Gehr.
My aim is to test the amount of count data needed to still be able to get proper abundance and trend estimates using N-mixture models. I started by simulating data of different quality to test the precision and bias of the resulting estimates using N-mixture models. Further, I looked at how well trends can be estimated keeping the monitoring effort constant but changing the duration of the repetition intervals and number of repeated counts per year. I then applied the models to real count data from two sites in France to test the model’s limitations and applied a power analysis. I then also applied an N-mixture model to more sparse data from the Swiss canton of St. Gallen to see how it performs under less preferable conditions, using a space-for-time substitution.
To learn more about me check out my Linkedin 🙂
Education
- 2024-Present: MSc in Biodiversity and Bioinformatics (Minor), Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich
- 2021-2024: BSc in Biology and Environmental Science (Minor), University of Zurich