AMBER TAPHONOMY AND COLLECTING BIASES

Taphonomic processes affecting samples of amber inclusions are outline d. Comparison of traditional collecting methods dependent on human rec ognition of amber nodules (hereafter called picking) with bulk samplin g, screening and salt water floatation indicate that significant amoun ts of amber are overlooked by traditional methods. Picking over-repres ents large nodules and under-represents small ones. This is significan t because small nodules produce the highest number of inclusions per k ilogram. Although small nodules have the lowest trapping efficiency, t his liability is more than compensated for by their abundance and high proportion of external flows. Bulk screened samples produce more incl usions per kilogram of amber with lower between-sample variation. The proposed sampling method, if universally applied, would eliminate inve stigator bias in amber samples and establish a baseline for standardiz ing quantification of amber faunas. Bulk sampling and assessment of di versity per kilogram of amber allow more accurate estimation of total arthropod fauna through taxon/mass curves. Completeness of sampling ca n be estimated through evaluation of standard errors of species abunda nce as mass of amber increases. Consequently, community structure and organization can be more accurately described and compared with extant communities or other amber faunas, and changes in terrestrial arthrop od diversity over time can be more accurately measured.