Unveiling the role of taxonomic sufficiency for enhanced ecosystem monitoring

• Published in: Marine environmental research Vol. 200; p. 106631
• Main Authors: Carreira-Flores, Diego, Rubal, Marcos, Cabecinha, Edna, Díaz-Agras, Guillermo, Gomes, Pedro T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2024
• Subjects: Artificial Seaweed Monitoring System; Artificial substrates; Ecosystem monitoring; Epifaunal assemblages; Taxonomic sufficiency; Ecosystem monitoring; Artificial Seaweed Monitoring System; Epifaunal assemblages; Artificial substrates; Taxonomic sufficiency
• ISSN: 0141-1136; 1879-0291; 1879-0291
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106631

The use of Artificial substrates (AS) as sampling devices addresses challenges in macrofaunal quantitative sampling. While effectively capturing biodiversity patterns, the time-intensitive identification process at the species level remains a substantial challenge. The Taxonomic Sufficiency approach (TS), where only taxa above species level are identified, arises as a potential solution to be tested across different environmental monitoring scenarios. In this paper, we analyzed three AS macrobenthic datasets to evaluate the odds of TS in improving the cost-effective ratio in AS monitoring studies and establish the highest resolution level to detect assemblage changes under different environmental factors. Results indicated that the family level emerged as a pragmatic compromise, balancing precision and taxonomic effort. Cost/benefit analysis supported TS efficiency, maintaining correlation stability until the family level. Results also showed that reducing resolution to family does not entail a significant Loss of Information. This study contributes to the discourse on TS applicability, highlighting its practicality in monitoring scenarios, including spatial-temporal studies, and rapid biodiversity assessments. Additionally, it highlights the “second best approach” of family-level practicality depending on the specific monitoring scenario and recognizes the importance of the species-level “best approach” before applying TS in monitoring studies. •The family level provides an optimal cost-effective balance between identification accuracy and effort.•Cost/benefit analysis shows TS efficiency with consistent Spearman's correlation between species and family.•TS reduces identification time and costs while maintaining reliable ecological data.•Initial species-level data is essential to validate TS across different spatial and temporal scales.