Ad-Hoc vs. Standardized and Optimized Arthropod Diversity Sampling

The use of standardized and optimized protocols has been recently advocated for different arthropod taxa instead of ad-hoc sampling or sampling with protocols defined on a case-by-case basis. We present a comparison of both sampling approaches applied for spiders in a natural area of Portugal. Tests...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pedro Cardoso, Luís C. Crespo, Rui Carvalho, Ana C. Rufino, Sérgio S. Henriques
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2009-09-01
Series:Diversity
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/1/1/36/
Description
Summary:The use of standardized and optimized protocols has been recently advocated for different arthropod taxa instead of ad-hoc sampling or sampling with protocols defined on a case-by-case basis. We present a comparison of both sampling approaches applied for spiders in a natural area of Portugal. Tests were made to their efficiency, over-collection of common species, singletons proportions, species abundance distributions, average specimen size, average taxonomic distinctness and behavior of richness estimators. The standardized protocol revealed three main advantages: (1) higher efficiency; (2) more reliable estimations of true richness; and (3) meaningful comparisons between undersampled areas.
ISSN:1424-2818