title: Arthropod diversity in a tropical forest.
abstract: Most eukaryotic organisms are arthropods. Yet, their diversity in rich terrestrial ecosystems is still unknown. Here we produce tangible estimates of the total species richness of arthropods in a tropical rainforest. Using a comprehensive range of structured protocols, we sampled the phylogenetic breadth of arthropod taxa from the soil to the forest canopy in the San Lorenzo forest, Panama. We collected 6144 arthropod species from 0.48 hectare and extrapolated total species richness to larger areas on the basis of competing models. The whole 6000-hectare forest reserve most likely sustains 25,000 arthropod species. Notably, just 1 hectare of rainforest yields >60% of the arthropod biodiversity held in the wider landscape. Models based on plant diversity fitted the accumulated species richness of both herbivore and nonherbivore taxa exceptionally well. This lends credence to global estimates of arthropod biodiversity developed from plant models.
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Republic of Panama. bassety@si.edu
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Basset
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cizek
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cuénoud
authors.forename: Raphael K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Didham
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guilhaumon
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Missa
authors.forename: Vojtech
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Novotny
authors.forename: Frode
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ødegaard
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Roslin
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmidl
authors.forename: Alexey K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Tishechkin
authors.forename: Neville N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Winchester
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Roubik
authors.forename: Henri-Pierre
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Aberlenc
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bail
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Barrios
authors.forename: Jon R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Bridle
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Castaño-Meneses
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Corbara
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Curletti
authors.forename: Wesley
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Duarte da Rocha
authors.forename: Domir
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Bakker
authors.forename: Jacques H C
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Delabie
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dejean
authors.forename: Laura L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Fagan
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Floren
authors.forename: Roger L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Kitching
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Medianero
authors.forename: Scott E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Evandro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gama de Oliveira
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Orivel
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pollet
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rapp
authors.forename: Sérvio P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Roisin
authors.forename: Jesper B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Line
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leponce
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification*; D044822:Biodiversity; D060434:Herbivory; D011891:Rain; D014197:Trees; D014329:Tropical Climate