Tp. Woolley et Fg. Lindzey, RELATIVE PRECISION AND SOURCES OF BIAS IN PRONGHORN SEX AND AGE COMPOSITION SURVEYS, The Journal of wildlife management, 61(1), 1997, pp. 57-63
We compared pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) composition survey estim
ates among observers and examined factors that may influence classific
ations at 3 sites in Wyoming. We also compared fixed-wing aerial to gr
ound survey estimates. Observer disagreement was related to size of pr
onghorn group (P < 0.01) during ground surveys. Fixed-wing aerial surv
eys yielded significantly lower adult buck ratios than ground surveys
in 3 of 6 (P < 0.05) comparisons. Observers' classifications differed
in 3 of 12 ground, and 5 of 12 aerial comparisons (P < 0.05) with half
the disagreements being fawn ratios. Neither aerial nor ground survey
s was consistently more precise. Precision of individual observers was
similar at most sites within methods.