Abstract
To determine the feasibility of β-diversity measures to evaluate the impact of salinity stress on community homogeneity in marine environments, a 1-month bioassay was conducted using the protozoan assemblage as the test community. The test samples were collected using the slide method in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. Five treatments were designed according to a salinity gradient of 9, 19, 29, 39, and 49 PSU. The homogeneity of the test community showed significant variability in both composition and abundance patterns among five treatments. The multivariate dispersion measure on compositional data was linearly associated with the salinity stress compared to those on abundance alone or in combination with occurrence. The traditional β-diversity index represented a different behavior from that of the multivariate dispersion measures. These findings suggest that the composition-based multivariate dispersion may be a useful tool to evaluate the global salinity stress on community homogeneity in marine ecosystems.
Published Version
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