title: Biodiversity assessment and conservation strategies
abstract: The efficient representation of all species in conservation planning is problematic. Often, species distribution is assessed by dividing the land into a grid; complementary sets of grids, in which each taxon is represented at least once, are then sought. To determine if this approach provides useful surrogate information, species and higher taxon data for South African plants and animals were analyzed. Complementary species sets did not coincide and overlapped little with higher taxon sets. Survey extent and taxonomic knowledge did not affect this overlap. Thus, the assumptions of surrogacy, on which so much conservation planning is based, are not supported.
authors.affiliation: A. S. van Jaarsveld, S. Freitag, S. L. Chown, C. Muller, S. Kock, H. Hull, C. H. Scholtz, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. C. Bellamy, M. Kruger, S. Endrody-Younga, Transvaal Museum,
authors.lastname: van Jaarsveld AS
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Freitag
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Chown
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hull
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bellamy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kruger
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Endrody-Younga
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Mansell
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Scholtz