Ecological Sampling Design and Observer Bias: An Example from Toad- Headed Agama (Phrynocephalus versicolor) in the Southern Gobi, Mongolia

Abstract

Currently Mongolia faces great challenges in ecological research, with ecological studies relatively neglected during Soviet administration. The development of ecological studies requires an appreciation of sampling bias and how this can be avoided. Here we present acase where observer biases are impossible to disentangle from site effects because sample site data are confounded with observer sampling activity. Three volunteers were collected simple body mass and length measures of toad-headed agama, Phrynocephalus versicolor, as part of a wider ecological survey programnle in Borzongiin Gobi, South Mongolia. Field data potentially reveal a difference in morphological size in toad-headed aganla inhabiting different habitats, but this can only be ascertained through further sampling effort. We give recommendations for future studies.

Keywords

• Phrynocephalus versicolor
• ecological field techniques
• sampling
• observer bias
• Borzongiin Gobi