Ad-Hoc vs. Standardized and Optimized Arthropod Diversity Sampling

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• abundance classes
• accumulation curves
• Araneae
• biodiversity assessment
• Iberian Peninsula
• Portugal
• rank-abundance curves
• species richness estimators