Effective methods for finding the true species richness are necessary for biodiversity research. Such assessments are especially difficult for short-lived freshwater invertebrates found in arid and semi-arid temporary habitats. However, many of these animals produce “resting eggs” that remain viable for a long time and hatch when the habitats refill with water. This aspect can be used to assess the true species richness of these assemblages. We performed a simple, fast, cost-effective, and reliable method of laboratory sediment rehydration along with standard field sampling to understand the richness, diversity and hatching patterns of invertebrates like rotifers, cladocerans, copepods and ostracods and large branchiopods from a temporary pool located in the semi-arid part of peninsular India. Twenty-two rotifers, 5 large branchiopods and 6 micro-crustaceans were found in the study of which 4 species were only found from the rehydrated sediment. Variation in the species composition was higher in the field samples than the lab ones. Field and laboratory species communities were distinct from each other. Species community comparison with a similar habitat nearly 150 km away showed a dissimilarity of 0.70 between the two. Contrasting environmental conditions between the field and lab combined with temporal variation in the hatching patterns of species might explain the dissimilarities seen in the fauna. We propose that the sediment rehydration method along with the field sampling can be used to reveal the true species richness of the local temporary water bodies.

寻找真实物种丰富度的有效方法对于生物多样性研究是必要的。对于干旱和半干旱临时栖息地中的短命淡水无脊椎动物来说，这种评估尤其困难。然而，许多这些动物会产生“休眠卵”，这些卵可以长期存活，并在栖息地充满水时孵化。这个方面可用于评估这些组合的真实物种丰富度。我们采用了一种简单、快速、经济高效且可靠的实验室沉积物再水化方法以及标准现场采样，以了解轮虫、枝角类、桡足类和介形类以及大型鳃足类等无脊椎动物的丰富度、多样性和孵化模式。位于印度半岛半干旱地区的临时水池。研究中发现了22种轮虫、5种大型鳃足类动物和6种微型甲壳类动物，其中4种仅在复水沉积物中发现。野外样品的物种组成变化高于实验室样品。野外和实验室物种群落彼此不同。物种群落与近 150 公里外的类似栖息地的比较显示，两者之间的差异为 0.70。现场和实验室环境条件的对比，加上物种孵化模式的时间变化，可能可以解释动物群中所见的差异。我们建议采用沉积物补水方法结合现场采样来揭示当地临时水体的真实物种丰富度。