Abstract
The use of standardized and optimized protocols has been recently advocated for different arthropod taxa instead of ad-hoc sampling or sampling with protocols defined on a case-by-case basis. We present a comparison of both sampling approaches applied for spiders in a natural area of Portugal. Tests were made to their efficiency, over-collection of common species, singletons proportions, species abundance distributions, average specimen size, average taxonomic distinctness and behavior of richness estimators. The standardized protocol revealed three main advantages: (1) higher efficiency; (2) more reliable estimations of true richness; and (3) meaningful comparisons between undersampled areas.
Highlights
Ad-hoc sampling of species diversity, either unplanned or planned on a case by case basis, is often used as an approach for obtaining the maximum information about areas in a minimum amount of time
If the species lists are complete or close to it, it is even possible to compare communities sampled with adhoc, not standardized, sampling
A total of 202 species were collected in the Paúl de Arzila Nature Reserve, 163 of these with ad-hoc sampling and 140 with standardized sampling [20]
Summary
Ad-hoc sampling of species diversity, either unplanned or planned on a case by case basis, is often used as an approach for obtaining the maximum information about areas in a minimum amount of time. This can even be the only option available, as the resources required to test the best method or combination of methods may not be available. This approach can be very efficient for some well known taxa if the objective is solely to compile species lists of the study areas [1,2,3]. For mega-diverse groups like spiders or other arthropods this is rarely the case
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