I saw a post about a road killed Mt. Lion in Iowa and it brought to mind a question regarding statistics.
Is there a way to determine population of a species using road kill numbers? I'm sure one kill is too small a sample to reach a reliable figure, but it seems like if one is hit on the road, there must be "X" more of them still running around the countryside. Just what that "X" number might be is the question.
Here's another example. Wolverines are supposedly extinct in Oregon. However, several years ago, a wolverine was hit by a car on I-84 in the Columbia Gorge. Since this is a species that typically stays as far away from roads as possible, it seems pretty unlikely that the one that was hit was the only one that existed in Oregon.
Any thoughts on this?
-dan
Is there a way to determine population of a species using road kill numbers? I'm sure one kill is too small a sample to reach a reliable figure, but it seems like if one is hit on the road, there must be "X" more of them still running around the countryside. Just what that "X" number might be is the question.
Here's another example. Wolverines are supposedly extinct in Oregon. However, several years ago, a wolverine was hit by a car on I-84 in the Columbia Gorge. Since this is a species that typically stays as far away from roads as possible, it seems pretty unlikely that the one that was hit was the only one that existed in Oregon.
Any thoughts on this?
-dan