Figure 5

Randomized taxon accumulation curves based on molecular and morphological taxon delineations and total phylogenetic diversity. Taxon accumulation curves based on barcode haplogroups and morphospecies were constructed in EstimateS V.8.0 using 50 random replicates and default settings. The phylogenetic diversity (PD) accumulation curve was constructed in R using the packages APE and CAIC (see Methods and Additional file 4). PD values were multiplied by a scaling factor so the end points of the PD and barcode threshold curves would be the same, aiding comparison of the shapes of these curves. As more Churchill EPT individuals are sampled, biodiversity accumulates at a similar rate regardless of how it is quantified, suggesting that all methods applied here could be used in biodiversity assessment. Barcode clusters are more rapidly obtained and efficiently analyzed than morphospecies or total PD.