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Characterising the phytophagous arthropod fauna of a single host plant species: assessing survey completeness at continental and local scales

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Abstract

Quantifying survey completeness is a key step in designing and interpreting biodiversity assessments. To date this has only been examined either at a local scale through repetitive sampling, or across broader geographic areas through multiple survey sites. In this paper, we determine the completeness of sampling at both local and continental scales, of the phytophagous arthropod assemblage on the Neotropical shrub Parkinsonia aculeata (Leguminosae). We used survey gap analysis (SGA) to determine whether existing surveys adequately sampled the diversity of environments and geographic space covered by the plant. Within defined geographic regions, we determined survey completeness at a local scale with species accumulation curves. SGA identified the highest priority sites for future sampling in the Sonoran Desert and the Pacific Coast of South America. The arthropods sampled on P. aculeata differed significantly between seasons, highlighting the importance of including surveys throughout the year. At the local scale, surveys in most regions were estimated to have sampled <50 % of all species. Only the Mexican Gulf, following 84 samples including 902 individuals, had a reasonably complete sample of all species (more than 50 %). As in other studies, rare species will continue to be detected even after extensive surveying, and it is likely that close to 100 samples or 1,000 individuals will be needed to attain 50 % survey completeness in a region. However, if the objective is to document close “host-associations” then effort may be better directed at surveying ecologically distinct new areas rather than exhaustive sampling in existing ones. Methods such as SGA can direct such surveys, and in conjunction with species-richness estimates, can be used to assess the adequacy of existing surveys.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ricardo Segura, Quiyari Santiago, Carlos Pascacio and Moises Martinez (CSIRO Mexican Field Station), and Hugo Cordo and Fernando Mackay (USDA Argentina) for assistance with field work. We also thank W. Woods for providing unpublished data on the arthropod fauna of P. aculeata in Texas, USA, north-eastern Mexico, and Costa Rica. M. Morrone kindly provided GIS shapefiles, created by P. Löwenberg Neto, of the biogeographic provinces outlined in his 2006 paper. J. Murray assisted with GIS methods. The manuscript was improved with comments from R. Didham. This project was funded by Meat and Livestock Australia and Land and Water Australia.

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  1. Karen L. Bell

    Present address: School of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, 400 Dowman Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Biosecurity Flagship and CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, EcoSciences Precinct, GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia

    Karen L. Bell, Tim A. Heard & Rieks D. van Klinken

  2. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet, PO Box 402, Armidale, NSW, 2350, Australia

    Glenn Manion

  3. CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Simon Ferrier

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  1. Karen L. Bell
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Correspondence to Karen L. Bell.

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Communicated by Anurag chaurasia.

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Bell, K.L., Heard, T.A., Manion, G. et al. Characterising the phytophagous arthropod fauna of a single host plant species: assessing survey completeness at continental and local scales. Biodivers Conserv 23, 2985–3003 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-014-0758-7

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