Publication: Bias in freshwater biodiversity sampling : the case of Iberian water beetles
Authors
Sánchez Fernández, David ; Lobo, Jorge M. ; Abellán, Pedro ; Ribera, Ignacio ; Millán, Andrés
item.page.secondaryauthor
item.page.director
Publisher
Wiley
publication.page.editor
publication.page.department
DOI
item.page.type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
©2008. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This document is the Accepted version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Diversity and Distributions
Abstract
Extensive distributional data bases are key tools in ecological research, and good-quality
data are required to provide reliable conservation strategies and an understanding of
biodiversity patterns and processes. Although the evaluation of data bases requires
the incorporation of estimates of sampling effort and bias, no studies have focused
on these aspects for freshwater biodiversity data. We used here a comprehensive data
base of water beetles from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, and
examine whether these data provide an unbiased, reliable picture of their diversity
and distribution in the study area. Based on theoretical estimates using the Clench
function on the accumulated number of records as a surrogate of sampling effort,
about a quarter of the Iberian and Balearic 50
×
50 km Universal Transverse Mercator
grid cells can be considered well prospected, with more than 70% of the theoretical
species richness actually recorded. These well-surveyed cells are not evenly distributed
across biogeographical and physicoclimatic subregions, reflecting some geographical
bias in the distribution of sampling effort. Our results suggest that recording was
skewed by relatively simple variables affecting collector activity, such as the perceived
‘attractiveness’ of mountainous landscapes and protected areas with recently
described species, and accessibility of sampling sites (distance from main research
centres). We emphasize the importance of these evaluation exercises, which are
useful to locate areas needed of further sampling as well as to identify potential
biases in the distribution of current biodiversity patterns.
publication.page.subject
Citation
Diversity and Distributions, (Diversity Distrib.) (2008) 14, 754–762
item.page.embargo
Collections
Ir a Estadísticas
Este ítem está sujeto a una licencia Creative Commons. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/