title: Species undersampling in tropical bat surveys: effects on emerging biodiversity patterns.
abstract: Undersampling is commonplace in biodiversity surveys of species-rich tropical assemblages in which rare taxa abound, with possible repercussions for our ability to implement surveys and monitoring programmes in a cost-effective way. We investigated the consequences of information loss due to species undersampling (missing subsets of species from the full species pool) in tropical bat surveys for the emerging patterns of species richness (SR) and compositional variation across sites. For 27 bat assemblage data sets from across the tropics, we used correlations between original data sets and subsets with different numbers of species deleted either at random, or according to their rarity in the assemblage, to assess to what extent patterns in SR and composition in data subsets are congruent with those in the initial data set. We then examined to what degree high sample representativeness (r ≥ 0·8) was influenced by biogeographic region, sampling method, sampling effort or structural assemblage characteristics. For SR, correlations between random subsets and original data sets were strong (r ≥ 0·8) with moderate (ca. 20%) species loss. Bias associated with information loss was greater for species composition; on average ca. 90% of species in random subsets had to be retained to adequately capture among-site variation. For nonrandom subsets, removing only the rarest species (on average c. 10% of the full data set) yielded strong correlations (r > 0·95) for both SR and composition. Eliminating greater proportions of rare species resulted in weaker correlations and large variation in the magnitude of observed correlations among data sets. Species subsets that comprised ca. 85% of the original set can be considered reliable surrogates, capable of adequately revealing patterns of SR and temporal or spatial turnover in many tropical bat assemblages. Our analyses thus demonstrate the potential as well as limitations for reducing survey effort and streamlining sampling protocols, and consequently for increasing the cost-effectiveness in tropical bat surveys or monitoring programmes. The dependence of the performance of species subsets on structural assemblage characteristics (total assemblage abundance, proportion of rare species), however, underscores the importance of adaptive monitoring schemes and of establishing surrogate performance on a site by site basis based on pilot surveys.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal.|Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph F J
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Distrito Federal, 70910-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ludmilla M S
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Aguiar
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biodiversidad y Genética, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Casilla Postal 538, Cochabamba, Bolivia.|Centro de Estudios en Biología Teórica y Aplicada, Programa para la Conservación de los Murciélagos de Bolivia, Casilla Postal 9641, La Paz, Bolivia.
authors.forename: Luis F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Aguirre
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, CEP 45650-000, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baumgarten
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK.
authors.forename: Frank M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR CBGP, Campus International de Baillarguet CS 30016, F-34988, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cosson
authors.affiliation: School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 600 E Greenfield Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53204, USA.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Estrada Villegas
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany.|Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, D-78315, Radolfzell, Germany.|Division of Evolutionary Biology, Zoological Institute, TU Braunschweig, D-38106, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fahr
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, CEP 45650-000, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Faria
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Furey
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR 406 Abeilles & Environnement, Site Agroparc, F-84914, Avignon, France.
authors.forename: Mickaël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK.|Madagasikara Voakajy, B. P. 5181, Antananarivo, Madagascar.|DICE, School of Anthropology and Conservation, The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NR, UK.|School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2UW, UK.
authors.forename: Richard K B
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kunz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK.|Centro de Investigaciones Tropicales, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz C.P, 91019, Mexico.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cristina MacSwiney González
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudios en Biología Teórica y Aplicada, Programa para la Conservación de los Murciélagos de Bolivia, Casilla Postal 9641, La Paz, Bolivia.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Moya
authors.affiliation: UMR 7205, Department Systématique et Evolution, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 55 Rue Buffon, BP51, F-75005, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pons
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter in Cornwall, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Racey
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rex
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Erica M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Sampaio
authors.affiliation: Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30003, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Stoner
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Voigt
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: von Staden
authors.affiliation: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kofa National Wildlife Refuge 9300 E. 28th St. Yuma, AZ, 85365, USA.
authors.forename: Christa D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Weise
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany.|Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, P.O. Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Panama.
authors.forename: Elisabeth K V
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Kalko
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D014329:Tropical Climate
keywords: Chiroptera; biodiversity surveys; cost‐effectiveness; representative sampling; species rarity; species subsamples