Species richness is a fundamental measurement of community and regional
diversity, and it underlies many ecological models and conservation
strategies. In spite of its importance, ecologists have not always
appreciated the effects of abundance and sampling effort on richness
measures and comparisons. We survey a series of common pitfalls in
quantifying and comparing taxon richness. These pitfalls can be largely
avoided by using accumulation and rarefaction curves, which may be
based on either individuals or samples. These taxon sampling curves
contain the basic information for valid richness comparisons, including
category-subcategory ratios (species-to-genus and species-to-individual
ratios). Rarefaction methods - both sample-based and individual-based
- allow for meaningful standardization and comparison of datasets.
Standardizing data sets by area or sampling effort may produce very
different results compared to standardizing by number of individuals
collected, and it is not always clear which measure of diversity
is more appropriate. Asymptotic richness estimators provide lower-bound
estimates for taxon-rich groups such as tropical arthropods, in which
observed richness rarely reaches an asymptote, despite intensive
sampling. Recent examples of diversity studies of tropical trees,
stream invertebrates, and herbaceous plants emphasize the importance
of carefully quantifying species richness using taxon sampling curves.
%0 Journal Article
%1 Got01quantify
%A Gotelli, N. J.
%A Colwell, R. K.
%D 2001
%J Ecol. Lett.
%K Gotelli diversity rarefaction species_accumulation species_area_relationship species_richness
%N 4
%P 379 - 391
%R 10.1046/j.1461-0248.2001.00230.x
%T Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement
and comparison of species richness
%V 4
%X Species richness is a fundamental measurement of community and regional
diversity, and it underlies many ecological models and conservation
strategies. In spite of its importance, ecologists have not always
appreciated the effects of abundance and sampling effort on richness
measures and comparisons. We survey a series of common pitfalls in
quantifying and comparing taxon richness. These pitfalls can be largely
avoided by using accumulation and rarefaction curves, which may be
based on either individuals or samples. These taxon sampling curves
contain the basic information for valid richness comparisons, including
category-subcategory ratios (species-to-genus and species-to-individual
ratios). Rarefaction methods - both sample-based and individual-based
- allow for meaningful standardization and comparison of datasets.
Standardizing data sets by area or sampling effort may produce very
different results compared to standardizing by number of individuals
collected, and it is not always clear which measure of diversity
is more appropriate. Asymptotic richness estimators provide lower-bound
estimates for taxon-rich groups such as tropical arthropods, in which
observed richness rarely reaches an asymptote, despite intensive
sampling. Recent examples of diversity studies of tropical trees,
stream invertebrates, and herbaceous plants emphasize the importance
of carefully quantifying species richness using taxon sampling curves.
@article{Got01quantify,
abstract = {Species richness is a fundamental measurement of community and regional
diversity, and it underlies many ecological models and conservation
strategies. In spite of its importance, ecologists have not always
appreciated the effects of abundance and sampling effort on richness
measures and comparisons. We survey a series of common pitfalls in
quantifying and comparing taxon richness. These pitfalls can be largely
avoided by using accumulation and rarefaction curves, which may be
based on either individuals or samples. These taxon sampling curves
contain the basic information for valid richness comparisons, including
category-subcategory ratios (species-to-genus and species-to-individual
ratios). Rarefaction methods - both sample-based and individual-based
- allow for meaningful standardization and comparison of datasets.
Standardizing data sets by area or sampling effort may produce very
different results compared to standardizing by number of individuals
collected, and it is not always clear which measure of diversity
is more appropriate. Asymptotic richness estimators provide lower-bound
estimates for taxon-rich groups such as tropical arthropods, in which
observed richness rarely reaches an asymptote, despite intensive
sampling. Recent examples of diversity studies of tropical trees,
stream invertebrates, and herbaceous plants emphasize the importance
of carefully quantifying species richness using taxon sampling curves.},
added-at = {2008-07-03T11:01:43.000+0200},
author = {Gotelli, N. J. and Colwell, R. K.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/24c12c72804222a6c2877b8f7fd698084/karinnadrowski},
date = {July},
doi = {10.1046/j.1461-0248.2001.00230.x},
file = {Got01quantify.pdf:Got01quantify.pdf:PDF},
interhash = {a65e57b307326015f18e4703bb27240b},
intrahash = {4c12c72804222a6c2877b8f7fd698084},
issn = {1461-023X},
journal = {Ecol. Lett.},
keywords = {Gotelli diversity rarefaction species_accumulation species_area_relationship species_richness},
language = {#English#},
number = 4,
numlit = {00113},
pages = {379 - 391},
timestamp = {2008-08-06T16:50:20.000+0200},
title = {Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement
and comparison of species richness},
volume = 4,
year = 2001
}