The development of models within this protocol depends on
the a priori knowledge of both ecologists and analysts working
together, rather than the blind use of packaged computer programs.
Information theoretic approaches allow for the flexibility to
develop a related set of models, based on empirical data, and to
select among or weight those models based on objective criteria.
Parameters of interest, such as survival rates or abundance, and
their related measures of variance can be computed under a
unified framework, thereby giving the researcher confidence that
these estimates were determined in an objective manner.