Biodiversity assessment using structured inventory: capturing the ant fauna of a tropical rain forest

TLDR: A novel method of sample processing was developed, in which parataxonomists prepared specimens based on their own sorting of morphospecies within samples, and a taxonomic specialist later sorted the resultant pool of prepared specimens.

Abstract: The goal of “strict inventory” (as opposed to community characterization) is to obtain species lists for specific sites. Quantitatively structured inventory can improve inventory efficiency (defined as the steepness of species accumulation curves). As part of the Arthropods of La Selva project (ALAS), a structured inventory of the ants of a lowland tropical rain forest was carried out. A novel method of sample processing was developed, in which parataxonomists prepared specimens based on their own sorting of morphospecies within samples (repeating the process for each sample, and thus not attempting to cross-reference morphospecies among samples), and a taxonomic specialist later sorted the resultant pool of prepared specimens. Efficacy of stratifying by sampling method (Berlese samples, Malaise traps, and canopy fogging), habitat, and time was investigated. Novel methods of analysis were used, including (1) curves depicting cost in prepared specimens of adding species to the inventory, as a function of n...