SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1978
STP35654S

A Comparison of Two Methods for Estimating the Parameters of a Truncated Normal Distribution

Source

The lognormal distribution has been used as a model for species abundance. A historical review of the use of this model is given. The method of maximum likelihood described by Cohen (1959, 1961) and a nonlinear regression method developed by Gauch and Chase (1974) have been used to estimate the parameters of the model. These two methods are described and appropriate applications of each method are discussed. The maximum likelihood method, not the nonlinear regression, is appropriate for estimating the parameters of this species abundance model. Results of a Monte Carlo simulation which demonstrates the advantage of maximum likelihood are presented.

Author Information

Hansen, J
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa
Zeger, S
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa
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Details
Developed by Committee: D19
Pages: 29–37
DOI: 10.1520/STP35654S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-4722-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-0803-5