Rdistance4.3.0 package

Density and Abundance from Distance-Sampling Surveys

abundEstim

Distance Sampling Abundance Estimates

AIC.dfunc

AIC-related fit statistics for detection functions

autoDistSamp

Automated classical distance analysis

bcCI

Bias corrected bootstraps

bootstrap

Perform bootstrap iterations

bspline.expansion

B-spline expansion terms

checkNEvalPts

Check number of numeric integration intervals

checkUnits

Check for the presence of units

coef.dfunc

Coefficients of an estimated detection function

colorize

Add color to result if terminal accepts it

cosine.expansion

Cosine expansion terms

dE.multi

Estimate multiple-observer line-transect distance functions

dE.single

Estimate single-observer line-transect distance function

dfuncEstim

Estimate a distance-based detection function

dfuncEstimErrMessage

dfuncEstim error messages

differentiableLikelihoods

Differentiable likelihoods in Rdistance

distances

Observation distances

EDR

Effective Detection Radius (EDR) for point transects

effectiveDistance

Effective sampling distances

effort

Effort information

errDataUnk

Unknown error message

estimateN

Abundance point estimates

ESW

Effective Strip Width (ESW) for line transects

expansionTerms

Distance function expansion terms

Gamma.like

Gamma distance function

Gamma.start.limits

Gamma.start.limits - Start and limit values for Gamma distance functio...

GammaModes

Modes of the Gamma distribution

GammaReparam

Reparameterise Gamma parameters for use in dgamma

getNCores

Set number of cores

groupSizes

Group Sizes

gxEstim

Estimate g(0) or g(x)

halfnorm.like

Half-normal distance function

halfnorm.start.limits

Start and limit values for halfnorm distance function

hazrate.like

Hazard rate likelihood

hazrate.start.limits

Start and limit values for hazrate distance function

hermite.expansion

Hermite expansion factors

HookeJeeves

'nlminb' optimizer

insertOneStepBreaks

Insert oneStep Likelihood breaks

integrateDfuncs

Integration of distance functions

integrateGammaLines

Integrate Gamma line surveys

integrateHalfnormLines

Integrate Half-normal line surveys

integrateHalfnormPoints

Integrate Half-normal Point transects

integrateHazrateLines

Integrate Hazard-rate line survey distance functions

integrateKey

Compute and print distance function integration

integrateNegexpLines

Integrate Negative exponential

integrateNegexpPoints

Integrate Negative exponential point surveys

integrateNumeric

Numeric Integration

integrateOneStepLines

Integrate Line-transect One-step function

integrateOneStepNumeric

Numeric Integration of One-step Function

integrateOneStepPoints

Integrate Point-survey One-step function

intercept.only

Detect intercept-only distance function

is.points

Tests for point surveys

isistDf.Rd

Check RdistDf data frames

is.smoothed

Tests for smoothed distance functions

is.Unitless

Test whether object is unitless

likeParamNames

Likelihood parameter names

lines.dfunc

lines.dfunc - Line plotting method for distance functions

maximize.g

Find coordinate of function maximum

mlEstimates

Distance function maximum likelihood estimates

model.matrix.dfunc

Rdistance model matrix

nCovars

Number of covariates

negexp.like

Negative exponential likelihood

negexp.start.limits

Start and limit values for negexp distance function

nLL

Negative log likelihood of distances

Nlminb

'nlminb' optimizer

observationType

Type of observations

oneBsIter

Calculations for one bootstrap iteration

oneStep.like

Mixture of two uniforms likelihood

oneStep.start.limits

oneStep likelihood start and limit values

Optim

'optim' optimizer

parseModel

Parse Rdistance model

perpDists

Compute off-transect distances from sighting distances and angles

plot.dfunc.para

Plot parametric distance functions

plot.dfunc

Plot method for distance (detection) functions

predDensity

Density on transects

predDfuncs

Predict distance functions

predict.dfunc

Predict distance functions

predLikelihood

Distance function values at observations

print.abund

Print abundance estimates

print.dfunc

Print method for distance function object

Rdistance-package

Rdistance - Distance Sampling Analyses for Abundance Estimation

RdistanceControls

Rdistance optimization control parameters.

RdistDf

Construct Rdistance nested data frames

secondDeriv

Numeric second derivatives

simple.expansion

Simple polynomial expansion factors

simpsonCoefs

Simpson numerical integration coefficients

sine.expansion

Sine expansion terms

startLimits

Distance function starting values and limits

summary.abund

Summarize abundance estimates

summary.dfunc

Summarize a distance function object

summary.rowwise_df

Summary method for Rdistance data frames

transectType

Type of transects

unitHelpers

Unit assignment helpers

unnest

Unnest an RdistDf data frame

varcovarEstim

Estimate variance-covariance

Distance-sampling (<doi:10.1007/978-3-319-19219-2>) is a field survey and analytical method that estimates density and abundance of survey targets (e.g., animals) when detection probability declines with observation distance. Distance-sampling is popular in ecology, especially when survey targets are observed from aerial platforms (e.g., airplane or drone), surface vessels (e.g., boat or truck), or along walking transects. Analysis involves fitting smooth (parametric) curves to histograms of observation distances and using those functions to adjust density estimates for missed targets. Routines included here fit curves to observation distance histograms, estimate effective sampling area, density of targets in surveyed areas, and the abundance of targets in a surrounding study area. Confidence interval estimation uses built-in bootstrap resampling. Help files are extensive and have been vetted by multiple authors. Many tutorials are available on the package's website (URL below).

  • Maintainer: Trent McDonald
  • License: GNU General Public License
  • Last published: 2026-01-10