Orphan caribou, Rangifer tarandus, calves: A re-evaluation of overwinter survival data

Abstract

Low sample size and high variation within populations reduce power of statistical tests. These aspects of statistical power appear to have affected an analysis comparing overwinter survival rates of non-orphan and orphan Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) calves by an earlier study for the Porcupine Caribou Herd. A re-evaluation of the data revealed that conclusions about a lack of significant difference in the overwinter survival rates between orphan and non-orphan calves were premature.