ABSTRACT
Many populations consist of elusive members that can make these populations difficult to study using standard sampling methods. These populations (e.g., salmon, large and small mammals, birds, injection drug users, sex workers) are impossible to census and most “regular” sampling techniques produce biased estimates (estimates that are, on average, too large or too small) of demographic processes (e.g., birth, death, immigration, and emigration) and underestimate the size of the population when detectability (elusiveness) is ignored. Capture-recapture has evolved to deal with this situation and highlights the pivotal role statistics can play in aiding general scientific understanding, of which many Canadian researchers are at the forefront. Capture-recapture studies are used to estimate the population size, determine if the population is growing, determine the rate of population change, estimate the rate of survival, determine if individuals move from one location to another, and/or determine the rate of movement between locations.
