A1194
Title: Species coverage estimation by means of Monte Carlo integration techniques
Authors: Agnese Marcelli - University of Siena (Italy) [presenting]
Rosa Maria Di Biase - University of Siena (Italy)
Sara Franceschi - ()
Marzia Marcheselli - University of Siena (Italy)
Caterina Pisani - University of Siena (Italy)
Abstract: Estimating species coverage is essential for understanding ecosystem health and effectively managing natural resources, requiring robust statistical techniques to ensure precise and reliable results. If the design-based approach is considered, the scheme for placing sample sites across a continuum is fundamental for performing reliable inference. In practical scenarios, such as estimating species coverage in dunes, strip sampling is a commonly adopted scheme, which involves recording the coverage of the target species within the strips. The aim is to show that, in this context, species coverage can be suitably expressed as an integral and, therefore, can be unbiasedly estimated using a Monte Carlo estimator. Additionally, a simulation study is presented to confirm the theoretical findings.
