Tourist species bias estimates of extrapolated species density in dispersive taxa: a case study from a litter beetle assemblage in temperate woodland

Extrapolative nonparametric estimators of species density are commonly used in community ecology. However, they are dependent on either (1) their use on non-dispersive taxa, or (2) the ability to separate tourists from residents in dispersive taxa. We undertook ten years of leaf litter sampling in an ancient woodland in the New Forest, Southern England. We identi- fied all the beetles from those samples and assigned them a residency status (residents, stratum tourists, and habitat tourists). Extrapolations, using the Chao 2, first- and second-order jackknife, and bootstrap approaches, of all sampled beetles all showed large overestimates of species richness when compared with extrapolations based on just residents. We recommend that the estimators should be used with caution as estimates of actual species density for dispersive taxa unless the natural history of most species in a community is well known. This applies especially to tropical ecosystems where many species have not been described. This reinforces the need for more descriptive natural history

Assessing high compositional differences of beetle assemblages across vertical woodland strata in the New Forest, Hampshire, England

Holdsworth, Sholto, Hammond, Peter M., Eggleton, Paul (2016): Assessing high compositional differences of beetle assemblages across vertical woodland strata in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. Journal of Natural History 50: 2477-2485, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2016.1195022, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2016.119502

Figure 1 in Assessing high compositional differences of beetle assemblages across vertical woodland strata in the New Forest, Hampshire, England

Figure 1. Correspondence analysis ordination of subfamily/family level showing separation between the sampling methods. Eigenvalue axis 1: 0.4953, variation 45.14; axis 2: 0.2668, variation 69.47. Key to subfamily/family abbreviations – Carabida: Carabidae, Hydrophl: Hydrophilidae, Leiodida: Leiodidae, Omaliina: Omaliinae, Pselaphn: Pselaphinae, Phloeocr: Phloeocharinae, Tachypor: Tachyporinae, Habrocer: Habrocerinae, Aleochar: Aleocharinae, Oxytelin: Oxytelinae, Scaphidi: Scaphidiinae, Scydmaen: Scydmaeninae, Paederin: Paederinae, Staphyln: Staphylininae, Geotrupd: Geotrupidae, Scirtida: Scirtidae, Throscid: Throscidae, Elaterid: Elateridae, Canthard: Cantharidae, Ptiliida: Ptiliidae, Anobiida: Anobiinae, Malachii: Malachiidae, Sphindid: Sphindidae, Nitiduld: Nitidulidae, Cryptoph: Cryptophagidae, Coccinel: Coccinellidae, Coryloph: Corylophidae, Latridii: Latridiidae, Melandry: Melandryidae, Tenebrio: Tenebrionidae, Salpingd: Salpingidae, Scraptii: Scraptiidae, Cerambyc: Cerambycidae, Crytocp: Cryptocephalinae, Chrysoml: Chrysomelinae, Galerucn: Galerucinae, Rhynchit: Rhynchitidae, Apionida: Apionidae, Curculio: Curculioninae, Cossonin: Cossninae, Entimina: Entiminae, Molytina: Molytinae, Scolytin: Scolytinae.Published as part of <i>Holdsworth, Sholto, Hammond, Peter M. & Eggleton, Paul, 2016, Assessing high compositional differences of beetle assemblages across vertical woodland strata in the New Forest, Hampshire, England, pp. 2477-2485 in Journal of Natural History 50</i> on page 2481, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2016.1195022, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/3994493">http://zenodo.org/record/3994493</a&gt

Figure 2 in Assessing high compositional differences of beetle assemblages across vertical woodland strata in the New Forest, Hampshire, England

Figure 2. Species accumulation curves created by rarefaction for each sampling method. Vertical bars = 95% confidence limits around the species richness estimate.Published as part of Holdsworth, Sholto, Hammond, Peter M. & Eggleton, Paul, 2016, Assessing high compositional differences of beetle assemblages across vertical woodland strata in the New Forest, Hampshire, England, pp. 2477-2485 in Journal of Natural History 50 on page 2482, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2016.1195022, http://zenodo.org/record/399449