Sampling sufficiency for estimating zooplankton diversity in neotropical floodplain lakes

Abstract

This study focuses on determining how many samples are needed to effectively assess the species richness of a community. Zooplankton samples at 40 sampling sites distributed among four lakes in the floodplain of the middle Araguaia River (Central‐West region of Brazil) were evaluated to determine the effect of the accumulation of collecting points by lake on species richness estimates. The results indicated the zooplankton community has high spatial heterogeneity. Thus, using a single sampling unit per lake would not be sufficient to accurately estimate their diversity (i.e. the zooplankton composition in these cases would be represented mainly by abundant species). Sampling designs that include a minimum of seven sampling sites in each lake are needed to record 70% of the total species richness. It is recommended, therefore, that researchers use a larger number of sampling sites per lake or, alternatively, that the water obtained and filtered through plankton nets is extracted from a wide area and in different lake compartments, rather than from a single site.

Biogeographic patterns of planktonic and meiobenthic fauna diversity in inland waters of the Russian Arctic

“…Collection of relatively rare freshwater fauna depends on factors such as the number of samples collected, the size of the waterbodies studied (Azovsky, 2011; Vieira et al., 2017), and the complexity and effectiveness of the sampling methods and approaches used (Castilho et al., 2016; Gutkowska et al, 2013). We tried to increase and balance sampling effort in each studied region by adding species lists from respective regional literature (including other waterbodies and periods).…”

Zooplankton community attributes in an oligo-mesotrophic reservoir: A comparative study of two sampling strategies

“…This variability may affect the accuracy and precision of the estimation of zooplankton populations and the diagnosis of community shifts in response to local gradients and temporal environmental changes. Sampling strategies that do not consider spatial and temporal structuring of communities lead to poorly designed surveys that may significantly underestimate diversity (Vieira et al 2017).…”