Abstract

HALLOY, Stephan; IBANEZ, Mercedes  and  YAGER, Karina. Point and flexible area sampling for rapid inventories of biodiversity status. Ecología en Bolivia [online]. 2011, vol.46, n.1, pp.46-56. ISSN 1605-2528.

The point and flexible area sampling method for rapid inventories of biodiversity status (PAF) combines classical methods of point intercepts with quadrat sampling areas. The method registers points along a line (point intercept method), and in addition samples an area of one to several meters (flexible quadrat) on each side of this line to provide a quantitative assessment of the rarer species. Such a combination resolves the tension between the objectivity of cover evaluation vs. the need to include rarer species. PAF areas include a quantitative assessment of species cover in relation to the total sample area, with minimum trampling and minimum sampling effort. This provides information suitable for more advanced statistical analyses such as obtaining species-area relationships, deriving rank-abundance curves and the corresponding analyses, and the calculation of indices such as the Shannon-Weaver diversity index, equitability, distance to the lognormal (ΔL), etc.

Keywords : Biodiversity sampling methods; Conservation; Grasslands; Monitoring; PAF.

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