A plant-capture method for estimating the size of a population from a single sample

To estimate the size of a population a plant-capture method, an alternative to the classic capture-mark-recapture model, is presented. Known or marked individuals otherwise indistinguishable from the remainder of the population are planted followed by an effort to capture members from the augmented population. Maximum likelihood estimators and a confidence region together with the expected length of the confidence interval for the size of the population as a function of the number of plants are given. A methodology for comparing the cost efficiency of plant-capture to capture-recapture is developed. An application to counting the homeless is given.