Diversity of non-acarine arachnids of the Ophathe Game Reserve, South Africa : testing a rapid sampling protocol

dc.contributor.authorHaddad, Charles R.
dc.contributor.authorDippenaar-Schoeman, Anna S. (Anna Sophia), 1948-
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-09T06:28:18Z
dc.date.available2015-10-09T06:28:18Z
dc.date.issued2015-07-30
dc.description.abstractAs part of the second phase of the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA), field surveys were conducted in many degree-square grids throughout the country using a standardised rapid sampling protocol. This study reports on the arachnid diversity of the Ophathe Game Reserve (OGR) in northern KwaZulu-Natal, as found during a preliminary survey in June 2007 (mid winter) and a SANSA field survey in October 2008 (mid spring) in four representative habitats. The SANSA survey included seven sampling methods: pitfalls, beating, sweep-netting, litter sifting, hand collecting, night collecting and Winkler traps. A total of 282 species in six arachnid orders were collected during the two surveys, of which spiders were the most species-rich order (268 species in 47 families). The SANSA survey yielded 966 adult arachnids, representing six orders and 197 species, with a further 67 species represented only by immatures. Although adult arachnid abundance (n) differed considerably between the four habitats (range: 156–321), adult species richness (Sobs) was less variable (range: 65–85). These survey results are comparable with several longer-term surveys in the Savanna biome, and indicate that the SANSA sampling protocol can yield an impressive diversity of arachnids during a relatively short period of sampling, with a high level of coverage (> 0.8 for sites and most sampling methods) and moderate levels of sample completion for adults (> 0.55 for all sites), despite logistical and temporal challenges. Additional repetitions of the SANSA sampling protocol in other seasons will likely increase biodiversity knowledge of arachnids in OGR considerably. CONSERVATION IMPLICATIONS : The implementation of rapid sampling protocols in an atlas project is essential to generate a large volume of species-level data. The SANSA protocol is an efficient means for rapidly generating arachnid data, and in future will allow for an assessment of diversity patterns in degree-square grids across South Africa.en_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2015en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.koedoe.co.zaen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationHaddad, C.R. & Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S., 2015, ‘Diversity of non-acarine arachnids of the Ophathe Game Reserve, South Africa: Testing a rapid sampling protocol’, Koedoe 57(1), Art. #1255, 15 pages. http://dx.DOI.org/ 10.4102/koedoe.v57i1.1255en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0075-6458 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2071-0771 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.4102/koedoe.v57i1.1255
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/50192
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherAOSIS OpenJournalsen_ZA
dc.rights© 2015. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.en_ZA
dc.subjectSouth African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA)en_ZA
dc.subjectArachnid diversityen_ZA
dc.subjectOphathe Game Reserve (OGR), KwaZulu-Natal, South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectField surveyen_ZA
dc.subjectSANSA protocolen_ZA
dc.titleDiversity of non-acarine arachnids of the Ophathe Game Reserve, South Africa : testing a rapid sampling protocolen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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