Uncertain sightings and the extinction of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Thursday March 24, 2011
Redfield Auditorium - 12:00 Noon
Dr. Andy Solow
WHOI, Director, Marine Policy Center

The record of sightings of a species can be used to draw inference about its possible extinction.  Existing methods assume that all sightings in the record are valid.  In practice, many sighting records include sightings of uncertain validity.  A method for accommodating such uncertain sightings is described and applied to the sighting record of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.