The flexible point and area method of rapid inventory (PAF, in spanish) combines the classic point interception methods with sampling areas or quadrants; recording points along a line (the point interception method) but also incorporating an area of one to several meters (flexible quadrant) on each side to include the rarest species in a quantitative way. This combination resolves the tension between the objectivity of the coverage assessment vs. the inclusion of the rarest species. In the PAF, areas include the rarest species in a quantitative way that is related to the area sampled, but with a minimum of trampling the vegetation and a minimum of sampling effort. This allows for more advanced statistical analyses such as obtaining species-area curves, derivation of range-abundance curves and the respective analyses, calculation of indices such as Shannon-Weaver diversity, equitability and lognormal fitting (ΔL), among others.