Scientists developed a new statistical method to separate true ecological differences in species composition between habitats from differences that are simply due to sampling fewer individuals in some locations. The researchers used computer simulations to model how sampling effects influence beta diversity measurements, then developed a modified rarefaction technique that standardizes comparisons by controlling for differences in sample sizes across patches. Current beta diversity metrics confound real ecological differences with sampling artifacts, making it difficult to identify true environmental drivers. Decreasing sample size can either increase or decrease observed beta diversity depending on the specific metric used and community properties. Their new rarefaction approach successfully separated sampling effects from environmental filtering in case studies. The method allows researchers to compare beta diversity between communities that have been sampled with different intensities. The research provides tools to make biodiversity studies more reliable and comparable, which is important for conservation decisions like designing reserve networks that maximize species complementarity across sites and understanding how human impacts affect species turnover through time.
Citation
Stier, Adrian C.; Bolker, Benjamin M.; Osenberg, Craig W. (2016). Using rarefaction to isolate the effects of patch size and sampling effort on beta diversity. Ecosphere.
This paper is Open Access.
Cite this article
Stier et al. (2016). Sampling Bias Can Distort Biodiversity Research. Ocean Recoveries Lab. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1612
