MEASURING MORE OF BIODIVERSITY - GENUS RICHNESS AS A SURROGATE FOR SPECIES RICHNESS IN AUSTRALIAN ANT FAUNAS

This paper examines the relationship between species and genus richness in local Australian ant faunas, in order to test the validity of the proposition that higher-taxon categories be used as surrogates for species in rapid biodiversity surveys. The data used were published records of species and genus richness fr om 24 sites distributed throughout the country. The relationship between species and genus richness was strong within regions, but varied substantially between regions, such that overall it had poor predictive power. The relationship was also con founded by biogeographic factors, and strongly influenced by sampling intensity and sampling area. Except in limited circumstances, genus richness therefore appears to be an unreliable surrogate for species richness in local Austr alian ant faunas. This may apply more generally to taxa in which a relatively small number of genera a can contribute a large proportion of species.