Evaluation of Aerial Line Transect Methodology for Estimating Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) Abundance in Scotland

摘要

Aerial line transect methods have been successfully used to count animals in open country; we describe their application for assessing red deer (Cervus elaphus) numbers in Scotland. The results of a pilot study in the north of Scotland are compared to a census count carried out in the same area in the previous year. The aerial line transect method gave an estimate of 2240 red deer in May 1995. This agreed well with the census count giving 2270 in April 1994. The line transect estimate had a coefficient of variation of 25%, whereas no measure of precision is available for the census count. Separate estimates for the number of stags and the number of hinds and calves were obtained with both methods.