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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 22(2)

Diversity and distribution of groundwater fauna in a calcrete aquifer: does sampling method influence the story?

Adam Allford A , Steven J. B. Cooper A B , William F. Humphreys A C and Andrew D. Austin A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.

B Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia.

C Western Australian Museum, Collections and Research Centre, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, Western Australia 6986, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: andy.austin@adelaide.edu.au

Invertebrate Systematics 22(2) 127-138 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS07058
Submitted: 7 December 2007  Accepted: 7 March 2008   Published: 12 May 2008

Abstract

There has been an increase in the number of studies examining the spatial and temporal patterns in species richness, community structure and population dynamics of groundwater organisms. These studies have raised the issue of uncertainty about the comparability of different sampling methods, and questions of whether sampling bias may exist. Recently, a diverse subterranean fauna was discovered in calcrete (carbonate) aquifers of the Yilgarn Region of central Western Australia. Little is known about the community structure and population dynamics in these aquifers. One important issue is whether current sampling methods adequately sample the species richness and abundance of the fauna to allow for comparative studies. Here we investigate the effectiveness of three sampling methods: haul net sampling, pumping with a 12-V impeller pump, and a discrete interval sampler. The methods were trialled over 16 months with >250 samples taken from 55 uncased bore holes. No significant taxonomic bias was detected across the sampling methods. However, sampling using a haul net was found to be the most efficient method for capturing the available taxa per unit time when sampling bores are less than 10 m deep, with pumping being the least efficient. These results are discussed in relation to the problems of studying stygofauna in Western Australian calcrete aquifers, and of groundwater faunas more generally.

Additional keywords: discrete interval sampling, haul net, pump sampling, stygofauna.


Acknowledgements

We thank R. Leijs, M. Guzik, E. Nicholson, C. Swingler, T. Bradford and L. Krogmann for assistance with field collecting, J. Bradbury for assistance in establishing the field site, the Axford family for granting us access to the calcrete and for their warm hospitality, and S. Eberhard for providing a copy of his submitted manuscript. We also thank J. Field (Biometrics SA) for help with experimental design and statistics and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions for improvement of the original version of the manuscript. Funding for the project was provided by the Australian Research Council (LP0348753), ARC Linkage partners, Newmont Australia, PlacerDome Asia Pacific, the South Australian Museum and Western Australian Museum, and the University of Adelaide.


Note added in proof


Nirripirti Watts & Humphreys has been synonymised with Paroster Sharp. See Leys and Watts (2008, this issue).


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Appendix 1.  Number of each taxonomic group captured by the sampling methods
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