ESTIMATING SPECIES RICHNESS IN TROPICAL FOREST - THE MISSING SPECIES EXTRAPOLATION TECHNIQUE

A new technique for estimation of tree species richness in tropical fo rests was developed and tested in this study. The missing species extr apolation technique is based on the assumption that the rare of accumu lation of new species with increasing area is the same within sampled and unsampled areas of similar habitat within a region. This new techn ique was tested on four 1-ha sites of subtropical moist forest in Rio Brave, Belie for which complete species counts of trees greater than o r equal to 10 cm dbh are available. Estimates given by the technique a re 115, 98, 93 and 106% of the actual species counts within the four s ites. The accuracy of these estimates was found to be equal to or bett er than most others obtained by using existing methods of extrapolatio n. The missing species extrapolation technique was also applied to a 2 1-ha riparian forest patch in the Mountain Pine Ridge, Belize, where i t was used to obtain an estimate of the number of tree species greater than or equal to 10 cm dbh in the entire patch.