當生態學家想知道一個地區的物種數，可以利用抽樣的方式來估計，但是利用抽樣的方式所觀察到的物種數，會隨著抽取樣本大小的不同，而有所差異。在做生態調查時，經常不能觀察到一個地區全部的物種數。因此需要抽取多少樣本，才可以觀察到這地區全部的物種。本文探討此樣本數估計的問題。我們利用統計方法，判斷還需多抽取多少樣本數，才能觀察到一個地區的物種數。本文探討抽樣方法架構在歸還抽樣與不歸還抽樣兩種抽樣實驗下，其預測樣本數估計量的表現，並且利用電腦模擬的方式，將分析的方法應用在實際資料中。本文也說明在不同抽樣實驗下的樣本數估計方法，最後則是探討在不同抽樣方法下，其樣本數估計量估計結果的優劣。

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