Small Sample Bias and Variance of Lincoln‐Petersen and Bailey Estimators

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AbstractThe Lincoln‐Petersen and Bailey estimators of an unknown population size were compared in a computer simulation of capture‐recapture sampling with replacement from small populations. The Bailey estimator was negatively biased and had smaller variance than the Petersen estimator. The Petersen estimator tended to be positively biased. The Lincoln‐Petersen variance estimator tended to be positively biased while the Bailey variance estimator was negatively biased.