Page 43 - IPCoSME 2021

1 INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE AND MARINE ENVIRONMENT 2021
st
(IPCoSME 2021)
“Environmental Sustainability Enhancement Through the Collaboration of Sciences”

RE-01

WHEN TO STOP SAMPLING? ESTIMATING FISH SPECIES RICHNESS IN
TASIK KENYIR, PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

MOHAMAD AQMAL-NASER AND AMIRRUDIN B AHMAD 1, 2, *
1

1 Biological and Ecological Research Group, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala
Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
2 Terrestrial Biodiversity and Aquatic Research, Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and
Sustainable Management, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu,
Malaysia

*Corresponding author email: amirrudin@umt.edu.my

Abstract: The information on species richness is critical especially for the conservation of

biodiversity, but requires exhaustive sampling efforts and proper detection methods in order to
get a reliable data. Hence, we explore the use of nine non-parametric estimators to estimate

fish species richness at Tasik Kenyir, Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia. The performances of
each estimator were then evaluated to determine the precision, bias, and accuracy of each

estimator. The species richness estimators predicted a minimum of 61.00 ± 10.51 and a

maximum of 79.18 fish species at Tasik Kenyir, an additional of three to 21.18 species. The
predictions were closed to the 58 observed species, indicating the usefulness of those estimators

for the well-collected data and species-rich ecosystem. The results were concurrent with the
values of the adjusted estimated range, sampling intensity, percentage of inventory

completeness, and inventory completeness index. Chao1 estimator was chosen as the best

species richness estimator for Tasik Kenyir based on three evaluation criteria used. We
conclude that the application of species richness estimation is reliable, and essential for

biodiversity assessment in the reservoir systems.

Keywords: accuracy, biodiversity, freshwater fishes, inventories, sampling effort, (how many)

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