Intensive versus Long-Term Sampling to Assess Lepidopteran Diversity in a Southern Mixed Mesophytic Forest

As biodiversity loss increases through species extinction and habitat degradation, the need to catalog what remains becomes ever more important. The time and monetary limitations of long-term biodiversity surveys become a concern as demand for biodiversity studies rises. This study was initiated to compare the efficiency of an intensive sampling scheme with a relatively long-term sampling scheme. Richness and abundance of selected moth taxa were measured in a mixed mesophytic forest habitat during a period of 8 mo for the long-term collection. An equal number of samples was taken from the same habitat during 1 mo for the intensive collection. A total of 3,155 specimens representing 314 species of moths was collected in the long-term study compared with 4,198 specimens representing 261 species in the intensive study. Sorenson's index indicated 76% species overlap between the 2 studies. Based on total species richness for this habitat, the intensive collection recovered 15% less than the long-term collection and took about half the time. The total number of species identified from both collections was 362. Because many biodiversity assessments are currently conducted on a short-term basis, studies such as this can provide entomologists with rough estimates of the percentage of biodiversity collected using relatively rapid sampling schemes.