R2MCDS: An R package for the analysis of multi-species datasets collected using distance sampling

Abstract

We present R2MCDS, an R package that provides tools to call the multiple-covariate distance sampling (MCDS) engine from the Distance 6.2 software in the R environment. We built R2MCDS for the analysis of line transects data collected using distance intervals. Based on the user inputs, the package writes a command file, runs the MCDS engine and re-imports the resulting statistics file as an R object. The package is particularly useful when the user wants to repeat the same distance analysis, as in multi-species surveys. We demonstrate the applicability of the package for multi-species surveys using data from the Eastern Canada Seabirds at Sea (ECSAS) database.