Trends in structural compositional attributes of dune-interdune vegetation and their edaphic relations in the Indian desert

Vegetation of 127 sites on different aspects of dune-interdunes in the Indian Thar Desert was classified using TWINSPAN. TWINSPAN groupings of sites separated better vegetated dunes of the northeast form the poorly vegetated dunes of the northwest and the southwest. Of the different ordinations using noncentred, centred and centred and standardized principal component analysis, reciprocal averaging and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), the site and species classes in DCA correlated well with ten edaphic and ten vegetational attributes of each site. Strong correlation of vegetation groupings with soil texture, moisture holding capacity and low correlation with pH and electrical conductivity revealed the possible importance of soil physical properties in affecting vegetation composition.The 11 species classes in TWINSPAN were regrouped into 18 species classes in DCA, which separated highly frequent species from those of less and least frequent species. Based on dominance-diversity attributes, Calligonum polygonoides-Lasiurus sindicus was brought out as bioedaphic climax stage. Correlation of ordination scores in different site groupings with vegetational attributes showed specific trends: From the zero of x, y and z axes to their maximum, the ordination scores of grasses and browse species declined while score of spinous species increased. The sites near the origin of the x, y and z axes were therefore least degraded and those at or near the maximum of x, y & z axes were most disturbed as was confirmed by the dominance diversity trends. Thus trends of compositional and functional attributes of vegetation of sites in different groupings helped in inferring a site's degradation status.Abbreviations RIV Relative importance value - TWINSPAN Two Way Indicator Species Analysis - PCA Principal Component Analysis - RA Reciprocal Averaging - DCA Detrended Correspondence Analysis - EC Electrical Conductivity - WHC Water Holding Capacity - BD Beta Diversity - DC Dominance Concentration - WWS Windward slope of the dune - LWS Leeward slope of the dune - ID Interdune Nomenclature: Bhandari, (1990)     

辽东三块石天然次生林的排序

 利用主成份分析(PCA)和相互平均法(RA),把辽宁省新宾县三块石林场次生林划分为三个类型：Ⅰ蒙古栎林;Ⅱ胡桃楸-水曲柳林,Ⅲ杂木林。影响这些次生林排序的主导因子是海拔和坡向。Fisher判别分析验证了PCA对该地区次生林分类是正确的,同时还可以利用Y= 0.0383X1+0.0362X2+0.0944X3+0.0133X4+0.1191X5-0.0510X6,预测调查地区的次生林类型。     

Reconstructing paleoecology and paleoenvironmental variables using factor analysis and regression: some limitations

We test the success of Principal Components, Factor and Regression Analysis at recovering environmental signals using numerical experiments in which we control species environmental responses, the environmental conditions and the sampling scheme used for calibration. We use two general conditions, one in which sampling of a continental margin for benthic foraminiferal assemblages is done in a standard grid and the driving environmental variables are correlated to one another, and the other where sampling is done so that the environmental variables are uncorrelated. The first condition mimics many studies in the literature. We find that where the controlling environmental variables are correlated, Principal Components/Factor Analysis yield factors that reflect the common variance (correlation) of those variables. Since this common variance is largely a product of the sampling scheme, the factors extracted do not reliably present true species ecologic behavior. This behavior cannot be accurately diagnosed and faulty interpretations may lead to substantial error when using factor coefficients to reconstruct conditions in the past. When the sampling scheme is constructed so that the controlling environmental variables for the calibration data set are uncorrelated the factor patterns will reflect these variables more accurately. Species responses can be more successfully interpreted from the Principal Components/Factor Analysis structure matrices. Additionally, regression analysis can successfully extract the independent environmental signals from the biotic data set. However, matrix closure is a confounding effect in all our numerical results as it distorts species' abundances and spatial distribution in the calibration data set. Our results show clearly that a knowledge of the controlling environmental variables, and the correlations among these variables over a study area, is essential for the successful application of multivariate techniques for paleoenvironmental reconstruction.     

甘肃马衔山林区植被的数量分类与排序

 本文用目前各国学者广泛使用的一些数量分类和排序方法对黄土高原区的马衔山植物群落进行了分类和排序。所用方法包括多元等级分划分类(TWINSPAN程序)、PCA排序(ORDINA程序)、RA和DCA排序(DECORANA程序)。研究结果表明可以把32个样地分为两大类共7个群落类型：山地森林 (1)山杨+白桦群落,(2)青杆群落,(3)青杆+白桦+山杨群落,(4)山杨+康定柳+糙皮桦群落;山地灌丛 (1)康定柳+糙皮桦群落,(2)糙皮桦+黄毛杜鹃+裂香杜鹃群落,(3)黄毛杜鹃+裂香杜鹃群落。它们的分布格局与海拔梯度密切相关。此外,本文还对所用方法的比较进行了讨论。     

Seaweed distribution patterns as revealed by ordination with reference to the Atlantic and southern Oceans

Ordination by Reciprocal Averaging (RA) and Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DECORANA) have been applied to problems of distribution of marine algal floras. The limitations and effectiveness of such methods are discussed and the need to analyse floras as assemblies of species per se rather than being chosen as characterising marine climates is stressed. The openended nature of RA and DECORANA is emphasised as particularly useful in phytogeography with examples from Ascension and Bioko Islands. Paper presented at the XIV International Botanical Congress (Berlin, 24 July–1 August, 1987), Symposium 6-15, “Biogeography of marine benthic algae”.     

Fairly Processing Rare and Common Species in Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Series. Application to Macrobenthic Communities from Algiers Harbour

Systematic sampling of communities gives rise to large contingency tables summing up possible changes in the assemblages' structure. Such tables are generally analysed by multivariate statistical methods, which are ill-suited for simultaneously analysing rare and common species (Field et al., 1982). In order to separately process species belonging to either of these categories, we propose a statistical method to select common species in a sequence of ecological surveys. It is based on a precise definition of rarity, and depends on a rarity parameter. In this work, this parameter will be optimised so that the sub-table of common species captures the essential features of the complete table as well as possible. In this way we analysed the spatio-temporal evolution of macrobenthic communities from the Algiers harbour to study the pollution influence during a year. The examination of the communities' structuring was done through Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of the species proportions table. Environmental variables were simultaneously sampled. We show that the data structure can be explained by about 25% of the total number of present species. Two environmental gradients were brought to the fore inside the harbour, the first one representing pollution, and the second one representing hydrological instabilities. Since rare species can also convey information, the complete table was also coded according to a generalised presence/absence index and submitted to Correspondence Analysis. The results were consistent with those of PCA, but they depended on more species, and highlighted the influence of sedimentology on the assemblages composition.     

Correspondence Analysis of species by environmental variable matrices

Abstract. Correspondence Analysis of species by environmental variables matrices is a relatively simple method for handling matrices which include many species and variables. If columns represent species and rows represent the states in which the environmental variables have been divided, each element of the matrix shows the number of releves in which the simultaneous occurrence of that species and that environmental variable state have been recorded. In this paper the use of the method for presence-absence data is considered. The method is appropriate for studies whose main purpose is to look for broad correlations between groups of environmental variables and groups of species. It is particularly useful for handling heterogeneous data sets including rare species and species-poor releves, a situation in which Correspondence Analysis and Canonical Correspondence Analysis are frequently complicated by the production of axes explaining the relationship between rare species and species-poor releves. Examples are presented with artificial data as well as with real data collected in the Mexican portion of the Chihuahuan Desert (Bolsón de Mapimi). It is shown for the Mapimi data that the method is robust to the partition of variables into different numbers of states.     

Braun‐Blanquet's legacy and data analysis in vegetation science

Abstract. This article investigates whether the Braun‐Blanquet abundance/dominance (AD) scores that commonly appear in phytosociological tables can properly be analysed by conventional multivariate analysis methods such as Principal Components Analysis and Correspondence Analysis. The answer is a definite NO. The source of problems is that the AD values express species performance on a scale, namely the ordinal scale, on which differences are not interpretable. There are several arguments suggesting that no matter which methods have been preferred in contemporary numerical syntaxonomy and why, ordinal data should be treated in an ordinal way. In addition to the inadmissibility of arithmetic operations with the AD scores, these arguments include interpretability of dissimilarities derived from ordinal data, consistency of all steps throughout the analysis and universality of the method which enables simultaneous treatment of various measurement scales. All the ordination methods that are commonly used, for example, Principal Components Analysis and all variants of Correspondence Analysis as well as standard cluster analyses such as Ward's method and group average clustering, are inappropriate when using AD data. Therefore, the application of ordinal clustering and scaling methods to traditional phytosociological data is advocated. Dissimilarities between relevés should be calculated using ordinal measures of resemblance, and ordination and clustering algorithms should also be ordinal in nature. A good ordination example is Non‐metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) as long as it is calculated from an ordinal dissimilarity measure such as the Goodman & Kruskal γ coefficient, and for clustering the new OrdClAn‐H and OrdClAn‐N methods.     

Patterns of ordination and classification instability resulting from changes in input data order

Abstract. Random rearrangement of entry order in three data sets often changed ordination and classification results based on Reciprocal Averaging. Results varied with the data set and method used. Eliminating infrequently occurring species largely reduced, but did not always eliminate, the variability. Overall, results appeared related to data set complexity, the type of data or transformation, and the analysis method used. Detrended Correspondence Analysis had the greatest variability of the ordination methods tested. Results from quantitative data were usually more variable than presence/absence data. Variation in cluster analysis was related to the number of tie values in the similarity matrix. Detailed tests using randomization of entry order of individual data sets with each of the programs to be used are needed to individually assess the effects on the results.; Keywords :; Cluster analysis; DECORANA; Ecological group; Entry order; Environmental gradient; TWINSPAN     

Climate and soil texture influence patterns of forb species richness and composition in big sagebrush plant communities across their spatial extent in the western U.S.

Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) plant communities are widespread in western North America and, similar to all shrub steppe ecosystems worldwide, are composed of a shrub overstory layer and a forb and graminoid understory layer. Forbs account for the majority of plant species diversity in big sagebrush plant communities and are important for ecosystem function. Few studies have explored geographic patterns of forb species richness and composition and their relationships with environmental variables in these communities. Our objectives were to examine the fine and broad-scale spatial patterns in forb species richness and composition and the influence of environmental variables. We sampled forb species richness and composition along transects at 15 field sites in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, built species-area relationships to quantify differences in forb species richness at sites, and used Principal Components Analysis, non-metric multidimensional scaling, and redundancy analysis to identify relationships among environmental variables and forb species richness and composition. We found that species richness was most strongly correlated with soil texture, while species composition was most related to climate. The combination of climate and soil texture influences water availability, which our results indicate has important consequences for forb species richness and composition, and suggests that climate change-induced modification of soil water availability may have important implications for plant species diversity in the future.     

Patterns of life history variation in the Funariales,Polytrichales and Pottiales

Abstract

A combination of Principal Component and Cluster Analyses is used to test for recurring suites of life history variation among 357 species of the Funariales, Polytrichales, and Pottiales. About 85% of among-species covariation in life expectancy, spore size and number, and sexuality is summarized by three Principal Components. Cluster Analyses, using species scores on these three derived variables, identify six groups of species based on similar grades of covariation in life history traits. These groups also differ significantly in water relations, gametophyte size, modes of spore dispersal, and prevalence of asexual reproductive propagules, and apparently are ecologically coherent, at least with regard to spatio-temporal scales of habitat availability and heterogeneity.

A number of differences emerge in comparisons of Principal Component Analyses performed separately for each of seven families. In particular, the distribution of overall variance among successive components varies greatly, suggesting that the number of biologically independent axes of life history specialization differs among families. Likewise, differences in loadings of the life history variables on Principal Components indicate that their patterns of covariation change as a function of familial membership.

In the Pottiales, the likelihood of producing sporophytes decreases with increasing life expectancy, and also shows a negative association with the production of asexual propagules. The likelihood of producing asexual propagules is higher among dioicous species and those not known with gametangia than among monoicous species, and is also positively associated with life expectancy. Alternative historical and ecological explanations are offered to account for these patterns of association.

These results support the idea that recurring suites of life history traits occur among moss species, and the patterns of life history variation appear to be associated with particular sets of environmental circumstances. The influence of phylogenetic history on life history variation is also strong. Until explicitly phylogenetic approaches can be employed, the extent to which observed patterns are adaptive rather than historically contingent must remain unresolved.     

Comparison of different treatments of rare species in canonical correspondence analysis

运用吕梁山南段植物群落及其环境调查数据,比较研究不同稀有种处理(剔除稀有种、稀有种不做处理与降低稀有种权重3种方法处理)对典范对应分析(CCA)排序结果的影响,并用Spearman秩相关系数检验对应排序轴的相关性。结果表明3种方法的分析效果基本一致,但它们对环境因子的解释趋势有差异。基于环境数据、物种数据和样方数据的排序轴相关分析结果显示:未处理稀有种的CCA与降低稀有种权重的CCA吻合度高于剔除稀有种的CCA与降低稀有种权重的CCA的吻合度,未处理稀有种的CCA与降低稀有种权重的CCA的前4轴呈极显著的一一对应关系;剔除稀有种的CCA和降低稀有种权重的CCA仅在基于环境数据和样方数据分析时前3轴呈极显著的一一对应关系,而在基于物种数据的相关分析时前4轴的对应相关性不显著。从物种-环境关系的解释量上来看,降低稀有种权重的CCA最优,剔除稀有种的CCA和未处理稀有种的CCA次之。结合对应排序轴的相关性分析和物种-环境关系累计解释量来看,这3种稀有种处理方法在准确地揭示物种与环境关系时的顺序依次为:降低稀有种权重>对稀有种不做处理>剔除稀有种。     

Cattle exclosure and vegetation dynamics in an ancient,Irish wet oakwood

The effects of a 10-year period of cattle exclosure on the ground flora and tree regeneration of an Irish ancient lowland wet oakwood (Corylo-Fraxinetum deschampsietosum) community are assessed. The approach was to record changes in a quadrat sample located in a National Nature Reserve and to model change by multivariate statistical analysis using Principal Components Analysis and Redundancy Analysis ordination. Exclosure gave significant increases in the abundance of regenerating ash Fraxinus excelsior and holly Ilex aquifolium. Non-native tree species establishment also occurred. In the ground flora, there were significant decreases in the abundance of ruderal species and grasses and significant increases in graze-resistant and graze-sensitive species usually restricted to broadleaf woodland habitats. Changes were similar under low and high canopy sites, but greater under a high canopy. In Irish lowland wet oakwood, managed historically to favour oak and currently grazed by cattle, exclosure promotes the succession of ash to the canopy and holly to the understorey. With time, this is likely to lead to a shift from oak dominance. In a conservation context this, together with an increased risk of non-native tree species establishment, can be ecologically damaging, particularly in small sites without natural dynamics, as is the case in the hedged agricultural landscapes of western Europe. We conclude that site-based conservation objectives should be prioritised when implementing generic, landscape-scale management strategies, such as rotational exclosure.     

Morphometrical analyses of Secale (Triticeae, Poaceae)

Some fifteen taxa ranked as species or subspecies have generally been recognized within Secale. However, most of these seem impossible to separate on morphology alone. Based on 14 morphological characters considered of diagnostic value and scored on 44 specimens representing most of the taxa a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was carried out. Limited correlation was found between the characters and consequently the first three principal axes account for only about 60% of the total variation. The PCA shows only a weak separation of annual and perennial taxa. Further analyses mainly of spikelet characters support merging of most of the previously accepted taxa within each of these two groups. A total of three species with five infraspecific taxa are here proposed within the genus and a key is provided to the taxa.     

稀有种处理对RDA排序结果影响的比较研究

为了解稀有种对RDA排序结果的影响,该研究以北京东灵山华北落叶松林调查数据为例,在RDA排序的基础上,对比分析了未处理稀有种RDA与剔除频度5%、盖度5%的稀有种后RDA排序结果的差异,并用蒙特-卡罗拟合检验分析了二者物种变量和环境变量之间的相关关系,以及用Spearman秩相关系数检验了对应排序轴的相关性。结果表明:(1)蒙特-卡罗拟合检验结果显示未处理稀有种RDA与剔除稀有种RDA各自对应的物种变量和环境变量之间均呈极显著相关关系;(2)从排序轴特征值对物种数据方差以及物种—环境关系解释量来看,剔除稀有种RDA前两排序轴与前四排序轴均有较高的物种-环境关系累积解释量;(3)剔除稀有种前后对应排序轴的Spearman秩相关分析结果表明,尽管未处理稀有种RDA和剔除稀有种RDA在第三轴和第四轴间存在一定的交叉,但二者对应的前四排序轴均呈极显著的一一对应关系(P0.001),相似性极高。总之,结合物种-环境关系的累积解释量及对应排序轴的相关性可知,在环境因子个数较少、研究尺度较小时,使用RDA排序揭示植物种、植物群落和环境因子之间相互作用的生态关系时,剔除稀有种前后RDA排序具有较高吻合性,只是对环境因子的解释趋势稍有差异。     

Elements of metacommunity structure of Paraguayan bats: multiple gradients require analysis of multiple ordination axes

Techniques to evaluate elements of metacommunity structure (EMS; coherence, species turnover and range boundary clumping) have been available for several years. Such approaches are capable of determining which idealized pattern of species distribution best describes distributions in a metacommunity. Nonetheless, this approach rarely is employed and such aspects of metacommunity structure remain poorly understood. We expanded an extant method to better investigate metacommunity structure for systems that respond to multiple environmental gradients. We used data obtained from 26 sites throughout Paraguay as a model system to demonstrate application of this methodology. Using presence–absence data for bats, we evaluated coherence, species turnover and boundary clumping to distinguish among six idealized patterns of species distribution. Analyses were conducted for all bats as well as for each of three feeding ensembles (aerial insectivores, frugivores and molossid insectivores). For each group of bats, analyses were conducted separately for primary and secondary axes of ordination as defined by reciprocal averaging. The Paraguayan bat metacommunity evinced Clementsian distributions for primary and secondary ordination axes. Patterns of species distribution for aerial insectivores were dependent on ordination axis, showing Gleasonian distributions when ordinated according to the primary axis and Clementsian distributions when ordinated according to the secondary axis. Distribution patterns for frugivores and molossid insectivores were best described as random. Analysis of metacommunities using multiple ordination axes can provide a more complete picture of environmental variables that mold patterns of species distribution. Moreover, analysis of EMS along defined gradients (e.g., latitude, elevation and depth) or based on alternative ordination techniques may complement insights based on reciprocal averaging because the fundamental questions addressed in analyses are contingent on the ordination technique that is employed.     

猕猴属种间颅骨差异的探讨

为了研究狒猴属的颅骨差异性,从面探讨种间在形态、功能和系统分化方面联系,测定了１１１个猕猴种类的７７个颅骨变量,用于主成分分析和判别分析。应用巢式分析方法,分析过程包括３个步骤。所有变量根据功能和部位的不同首先分为７个单位：下颌、下颌齿、上颌齿、上面颅、下面颅,、面颅后部和颅腔。第２步根据它们所揭示的相似性（具有相同的种间及种内差异性类型）合并为３个解剖区域：咀嚼器官（下颌、下颌齿、上颌齿）,面颅     

典范指示种分析— 一个新的外在分类方法

 本文描述一个新的外在分类方法—典范指示种分析。它是以典范对应分析排序轴为基础,同时使用植被数据和环境数据,其结果能更好地反映植被与环境的关系。我们用该方法对英国威尔士北部山地草甸的数据进行了分析,结果证明它是较理想的分析方法。     

Environmental correlates of species distributions in a saxicolous lichen community

Abstract. The importance of abiotic environmental factors in determining species distributions in a saxicolous lichen community at Jonas Rockslide, Jasper National Park, Alberta is assessed using Canonical Correspondence Analysis. This technique allows ordination of species on axes determined by measured environmental variables. The suitability of this technique for handling data which may not be normally distributed is confirmed by comparison with the results obtained using a non-parametric correlation coefficient. The variables found to be most highly correlated with species distributions are altitude on the rockslide and inclination from horizontal of the rockface (slope). These variables are thought to determine temperature and water availability at the rock surface. Using the first two ordination axes, species can be divided into groups, based on shared responses to the measured environmental variables.