Community Ecology
Volume/Issue:
Volume 5: Issue 1
Data quality in monitoring plant species richness in Switzerland
Authors:
M. Plattner Hintermann & Weber AG, Ecological Consultancy, Planning & Research Hauptstrasse 52, CH-4153 Reinach BL, Switzerland

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S. Birrer Hintermann & Weber AG, Ecological Consultancy, Planning & Research Hauptstrasse 52, CH-4153 Reinach BL, Switzerland

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D. Weber Hintermann & Weber AG, Ecological Consultancy, Planning & Research Hauptstrasse 52, CH-4153 Reinach BL, Switzerland

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Pages:
135–143
Online Publication Date:
22 Jul 2005
Publication Date:
01 Jun 2004
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/comec.5.2004.1.13
Keywords:
Biodiversity; Biodiversity; Species richness; Baseline monitoring; Data quality; Field methods; Reproducibility; Switzerland; Vascular plants
Restricted access

The on-going Biodiversity Monitoring in Switzerland Programme (BDM) has monitored vascular-plant species richness since 2001. This long-term programme focuses on two indicators at different spatial scales. First, the local diversity indicator monitors changes of species richness within habitats or types of land use (within-habitat diversity). Second, the landscape diversity indicator is utilized to describe landscape diversity (i.e., within-habitat mosaic diversity). Here we examine if the reproducibility of the BDM methods is sufficiently precise to detect future changes in species richness. We demonstrate that systematic methodical errors are negligible. Random errors that make changes more difficult to detect are also small. We calculate the Minimum Detectable Difference (MDD) for selected BDM strata using the variance of measured values. Then we deduce the MDD values for paired samples using data from grasslands and forests in the Canton Argovia. With 2.4 and 1.6 species they are promisingly precise. We develop a simple scenario for possible changes in species richness and show that they surpass the deduced MDD values by a factor four to six. We conclude that the BDM methods are appropriate for detecting future changes in species richness.

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Cover Community Ecology
Community Ecology An Interdisciplinary Journal Reporting Progress in Community and Population Studies
Print ISSN:
1585-8553
Online ISSN:
1588-2756

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Manuscript Submission: HERE

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Community Ecology
Language English
Size A4
Year of
Foundation		 2000
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 3
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible
Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 1585-8553 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2756 (Online)

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