Some comments on line transect grouped data analysis

Anderson and Pospahala (1970, J. Wildl. Manag. 34, 141-146) investigated the estimation of wildlife population size or abundance using the belt or line transect sampling method and devised a correction for bias, thus leading to an estimator with interesting statistical characteristics. This work was given a more uniform mathematical framework in Burnham and Anderson (1976, Biometrics 32, 325-336). In this paper we investigate several ways to generalize that correction for bias, and suggest that the data analyst has available a number of alternative directions that can, and indeed should, be explored. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.