Should we use proportional sampling for species-area studies?

Aim In this paper we aim to show that proportional sampling can detect species-area relationships (SARs) more effectively than uniform sampling. We tested the contribution of alpha and beta diversity in ant communities as explanations for the SAR. Location Tropical forest remnants in Viçosa, Minas G...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of biogeography 2004-08, Vol.31 (8), p.1219-1226
Main Authors: Schoereder, José H., Galbiati, Carla, Ribas, Carla R., Sobrinho, Tathiana G., Sperber, Carlos F., DeSouza, Og, Lopes-Andrade, Cristiano
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
A Touch of Theory
Alpha diversity
Animal and plant ecology
Animal ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Ants
area per se
beta diversity
Biogeography
Biological and medical sciences
Conservation biology
fragmentation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
habitat diversity
Habitats
Insect communities
Insect ecology
Logarithms
passive sampling
remnants
sampling artefact
Species
Species diversity
Synecology
uniform sampling
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Summary:Aim In this paper we aim to show that proportional sampling can detect species-area relationships (SARs) more effectively than uniform sampling. We tested the contribution of alpha and beta diversity in ant communities as explanations for the SAR. Location Tropical forest remnants in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil (20 °45' S, 42 °50' W). Methods We sampled 17 forest remnants with proportional sampling. To disentangle sampling effects from other mechanisms, species richness was fitted in a model with remnant size, number of samples (sampling effects) and an interaction term. Results A SAR was observed independent of the number of samples, discarding sampling effects. Alpha diversity was not influenced by remnant size, and beta diversity increased with remnant size; evidence to the fact that habitat diversity within remnants could be the dominant cause of the SAR. Such a relationship between beta diversity and remnant area may have also arisen due to the combined effects of territoriality and aggregation of ant species. Main conclusions The proposed model, together with proportional sampling, allowed the distinction between sampling effects and other mechanisms.
ISSN:0305-0270
1365-2699
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2004.01113.x