Do line-transect surveys systematically underestimate primate densities in logged forests?

Abstract

The rate at which social groups of primates are encountered in disturbed rain forest may be biased relative to undisturbed rain forest. A recently reported case study revealed a 25% reduction in postlogging raw encounter rates even though the true density of primates remained at the prelogging level. If biased raw encounter rates are typical of disturbed forests, and if they translate into equally biased line-transect density estimates, results of many comparative surveys might prove misleading (ie, apparent declines of primates in disturbed forest may not be real). Here a set of line-transect density estimates from logged forest are tested for systematic bias by comparing them to range-mapping density estimates, and the response of a Fourier series detectability function to several hypothetical patterns of bias in raw encounter rates is illustrated. Tests of line-transect density estimates from logged forest provide no evidence of systematic bias. The Fourier series results suggest that biased raw encounter rates may often be ameliorated by line-transect density estimators. Available evidence suggests that line-transect density estimates or similarly transformed encounter rates usually provide reliable comparative results within the limits of a particular study's resolution. In contrast, conclusions drawn directly from comparative raw encounter rates (without transforming them into density estimates) are more prone to error.