Statistical Methods For Estimating Species Richness Of Woody Regeneration In Primary And Secondary Rain Forests Of Northeastern Costa Rica

The study of plant communities requires a basic understanding of the abundance, distribution, and number of species present. Yet, in obtaining this information, scientists can rarely sample the entire community or area of interest. In practice, data from numerous small sub-samples provide a basis for extrapolating to a larger area, Such extrapolating must take into account the well-supported observation that estimates of local species richness depend strongly on the number of individuals and the area sampled (Gleason, 1922; Preston, 1948). Although researchers must rely heavily on extrapolations for many kinds of ecological studies, relatively little attention has been focused on improving the accuracy,…