Scale Of Patchiness Research Articles

Observation of the scale of patchy stomatal behavior in leaves of Quercus crispula using an Imaging-PAM chlorophyll fluorometer

Patchy stomatal closure occurs in plants with heterobaric leaves, in which vertical extensions of bundle sheath cells delimit the mesophyll and restrict the diffusion of CO(2). The scale of patchy stomatal behavior was investigated in this study. The distribution of PSII quantum yield (Φ(II)) obtained from chlorophyll fluorescence images was used to evaluate the scale of stomatal patchiness and its relationship with leaf photosynthesis in the sun leaves of 2-year-old saplings of Quercus crispula Blume. Fluorescent patches were observed only during the day with low stomatal conductance. Comparison of numerical simulation of leaf gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence images showed that heterogeneous distribution of electron transport rate through PSII (J) was observed following stomatal closure with a bimodal manner under both natural and saturated photosynthetic photon flux densities. Thus, fluorescence patterns can be interpreted in terms of patchy stomatal closure. The mapping of J from chlorophyll fluorescence images showed that the scale of stomatal patchiness was approximately 2.5-fold larger than that of anatomical patches (lamina areas bounded by bundle sheath extensions within lamina). Our results suggest the spatial scale of stomatal patches in Q. crispula leaves.

Scales of patchiness in the response of lotic macroinvertebrates to disturbance in a regulated river

AbstractPatchiness is hierarchically structured in stream ecosystems and transcends multiple spatial and temporal scales. Regulation of streams through channelization and flow stabilization often homogenizes in-stream habitats, thereby reducing this patchiness. We conducted a patch-disturbance experiment with individual brick substrata in 2 reaches (open vs closed canopy) and 2 seasons (summer vs winter) in a eutrophic regulated stream. Although the stream was regulated, we expected coarse-scale attributes (canopy cover, season) to influence the effects of disturbance at the fine scale of individual bricks. Brick substrata had 3 degrees of structural complexity (low = smooth, intermediate = techno, high = hetero). Replicates of each brick type were physically disturbed at frequencies of every 5 and 10 d or were left undisturbed during each 30-d experimental period. At the end of each experiment, individual bricks were collected, periphyton biomass was estimated, and macroinvertebrates were identifie...

Richard Vollenweider: an original thinker and one of his last ideas, moving correlations

Richard Vollenweider: an original thinker and one of his last ideas, moving correlations

Scale of nutrient patchiness mediates resource partitioning between trees and grasses in a semi-arid savanna

1. Scaling theory predicts that organisms respond to different scales of resource patchiness in relation to their own size. We tested the hypothesis that the scale of nutrient patchiness mediates resource partitioning between large trees and small grasses in a semi-arid savanna. 2. In a factorial field experiment, Colophospermum mopane trees and associated grasses were fertilized at either a fine or coarse scale of patchiness with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) or N + P. The growth of marked tree shoots, herbaceous biomass and leafNand P concentrations were monitored for 2 years following fertilization. 3. Responses of trees were partly scale dependent. Tree leaf N concentration and shoot length relatively increased with fertilization at a coarse scale. Tree leaf mass decreased when P was supplied at a fine scale of patchiness, suggesting intensified grass competition. 4. Phosphorus fertilization increased leaf P concentrations more in grasses than trees, whereas N fertilization increased leaf N concentration moderately in both trees and grasses. Herbaceous above-ground biomass around focal trees was negatively correlated with tree size when fertilized with N, suggesting intensified tree competition. 5. Synthesis. Our results support the hypothesis that trees benefit more from nutrients supplied at a relatively coarse scale of patchiness. No direct responses of grasses to scale were detected. In trees, the scale effect was surpassed by the effect of sample year, when rainfall varied

Habitat–diversity relationships in rocky shore algal turf infaunal communities

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 424:119-132 (2011) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08960 Habitat–diversity relationships in rocky shore algal turf infaunal communities Simon F. Thrush1,2,*, Mariachiara Chiantore1, Valentina Asnaghi1, Judi Hewitt2, Dario Fiorentino3, Riccardo Cattaneo-Vietti1 1DipTeRis, Università di Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genoa, Italy 2National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, PO Box 11-115 Hillcrest, Hamilton, New Zealand 3Laboratory of Zoology and Marine Biology, DiSTeBA, University of Salento, Strada provinciale Lecce-Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy *Email: s.thrush@niwa.cri.nz ABSTRACT: Relationships between habitat complexity and biodiversity are a cornerstone of ecology. On many rocky shores, the cryptic macrofauna that live in the biogenic habitat created by larger organisms adds considerably to biodiversity. Algal turfs are commonly considered to facilitate high species richness of resident organisms by moderating the physically stressful characteristics of the rocky shore. We conducted a multi-scale study to describe scales of patchiness within sites and define the strength of local habitat and broader environmental variables on infaunal turf communities. Species richness contributed by sampling turf dwelling infauna increased our estimates of rocky shore diversity by >100% compared to traditional visual quadrat sampling. Generalised linear models of the species density and abundance of infaunal turf organisms and canonical correspondence analysis of community structure did not indicate a strong role for algal turf habitat complexity. Multivariate partitioning was used to assess the importance of processes operating on site and regional scales in influencing the infaunal turf community. The analysis demonstrated the importance of cross-scale relationships and high levels of unexplained variation. Analysis of biological traits demonstrated widely dispersing species were strongly influenced by broad-scale environmental factors. Feeding traits indicated that the infaunal turf community was dominated by species capable of switching strategies between autotrophic and detrital based foodwebs, with the exception of suspension feeding species. Overall, and contrary to previous studies, our results indicate wide niches for infaunal turf species and weak relationships between the infaunal community and turf habitat characteristics. Spatial variation in turf habitat characteristics was not the main driver of spatial variation in turf-dwelling organisms, implying that the habitat variability we observed was not strongly influencing physical stresses, such as temperature and wave disturbance. KEY WORDS: Algal turf · Infauna · Diversity–habitat relationships · Biological traits · Spatial scale · Mediterranean Sea Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Thrush SF, Chiantore M, Asnagi V, Hewitt J, Fiorentino D, Cattaneo-Vietti R (2011) Habitat–diversity relationships in rocky shore algal turf infaunal communities. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 424:119-132. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08960 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 424. Online publication date: March 01, 2011 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2011 Inter-Research.

Assemblage turnover and taxonomic sufficiency of subtidal macroalgae at multiple spatial scales

Spatial variability in the structure of subtidal macroalgal assemblages in southwest Australia was examined at multiple spatial scales using a three-factor hierarchal design. Spatial extents ranged from metres (between quadrats) to many hundreds of kilometres (between regions), and the study encompassed > 2000 km of temperate coastline. In addition, the influence of taxonomic resolution, from species level data to class level, on spatial patterns was investigated to assess the potential evolutionary timescales of the pattern and for developing cost effective regionally applicable surrogates for biodiversity monitoring. Almost 300 species were identified from 14 sites, representing considerable biodiversity and a significant subset of the total benthic macroalgal diversity in the region (∼ 1000 species). Multivariate variability was significant at all spatial scales examined, but most prominent at smallest spatial scales, regardless of taxonomic resolution. Assemblage and species turnover was pronounced at scales of metres to hundreds of metres. Generally, small scale patchiness was a ubiquitous pattern for all individual taxa examined, regardless of taxonomic resolution, while variability at the scale of 10s of km was less important. Even so, differences in spatial variability between taxa were observed, and ecological and historical reasons for such differences are proposed. Taxonomic aggregation to family level had minimal effect on spatial patterns, but aggregation to order level led to changes in some aspects of patterns of assemblage structure. The unique and speciose macroalgal assemblages on subtidal reefs in southwest Australia are shaped by a complex array of historical and contemporary processes that act at multiple spatial (and temporal) scales. Understanding the relative importance of these processes requires that further manipulative and correlative work is conducted across a range of ecologically-important spatial scales.

Assessing the scale-specific importance of niches and other spatial processes on beta diversity: a case study from a temperate forest

Niche processes and other spatial processes, such as dispersal, may simultaneously control beta diversity, yet their relative importance may shift across spatial and temporal scales. Although disentangling the relative importance of these processes has been a continuing methodological challenge, recent developments in multi-scale spatial and temporal modeling can now help ecologists estimate their scale-specific contributions. Here we present a statistical approach to (1) detect the presence of a space-time interaction on community composition and (2) estimate the scale-specific importance of environmental and spatial factors on beta diversity. To illustrate the applicability of this approach, we use a case study from a temperate forest understory where tree seedling abundances were monitored during a 9-year period at 40 permanent plots. We found no significant space-time interaction on tree seedling composition, which means that the spatial abundance patterns did not vary over the study period. However, for a given year the relative importance of niche processes and other spatial processes was found to be scale-specific. Tree seedling abundances were primarily controlled by a broad-scale environmental gradient, but within the confines of this gradient the finer scale patchiness was largely due to other spatial processes. This case study illustrates that these two sets of processes are not mutually exclusive and can affect abundance patterns in a scale-dependent manner. More importantly, the use of our methodology for future empirical studies should help in the merging of niche and neutral perspectives on beta diversity, an obvious next step for community ecology.

The persistent spatial patchiness of limpet grazing

The characteristic variability of grazing has potential consequences for intertidal productivity and community structure, particularly as many of the underlying functional relationships are thought to be non linear. As a first approximation, it can be hypothesised that grazing is patchy over short time periods before a more uniform coverage is established over longer time scales. This prediction is supported by relatively short term observations previously made of limpet foraging. We used eight arrays of wax disks on each of four shores to test the hypothesis that grazing is patchy in the short term, but that this pattern is lost as the pattern of grazing averages out over longer time scales. Wax disk arrays were exposed for two weeks at a time for a period of six weeks in 2001 and in 2002 using the same set of disk holes each time. Grazing at the same disk location could therefore be measured over two weeks and over longer periods by averaging successive deployments. We used all three successive deployments to estimate the average grazing at each disk location over a six week period in 2001 and 2002. All six deployments were used to characterise the pattern of grazing at longer time scales. The spatial pattern of grazing in arrays was summarized using semivariogram analyses. For two-week deployments, the average standardized semivariance of grazing for disks separated by 20 cm was less than one. This pattern implies spatial autocorrelation of grazing at this scale. There was no support for the hypothesis that small scale patchiness in grazing would disappear over time. The average strength of spatial autocorrelation increased when data were integrated over longer periods. A preliminary analysis indicated that the degree of autocorrelation within arrays increased with grazing intensity at short time scales. Surface roughness disrupted autocorrelation of grazing over both short and long time scales. The persistent patchiness of grazing is likely to have implications for biofilm productivity, particularly on smoother shores.

Spatial patterns, species richness and cover in weed communities of organic and conventional no‐tillage spring wheat systems

SummaryHeterogeneous field conditions are ubiquitous throughout agricultural systems and have given rise to the practice of site‐specific management, in an effort to increase sustainability and/or homogenise growing conditions and thereby increase crop yields. The spatial pattern of weeds in conventional systems is widely accepted to be aggregated, but there have been no scientific studies regarding the spatial pattern of weed distribution in organic systems. Using a combination of aggregation measures and quadrat variance techniques, this study compared the spatial pattern of weed distribution in conventionally managed no‐tillage spring wheat fields to those of organically managed spring wheat fields. Per cent weed cover data (by species) were collected in the summers of 2005 and 2006 from transects located in conventional no‐tillage and organic spring wheat fields. Weed cover was aggregated in both the conventional and the organic systems, but the patterns of aggregation were different for the two systems. Conventional no‐tillage systems showed a patch/gap pattern, while organic systems showed multiple scales of patchiness with few gaps. These results suggest that processes causing aggregation in the two systems may be different and that site‐specific management may be applicable to organic systems as well as conventional spring wheat systems.

SPECTRUM OF SELECTION: NEW APPROACHES TO DETECTING THE SCALE-DEPENDENT RESPONSE TO HABITAT

Detecting habitat selection depends on the spatial scale of analysis, but multi-scale studies have been limited by the use of a few, spatially variable, hierarchical levels. We developed spatially explicit approaches to quantify selection along a continuum of scales using spatial (coarse-graining) and geostatistical (variogram) pattern analyses at multiple levels of habitat use (seasonal range, travel routes, feeding areas, and microsites). We illustrate these continuum-based approaches by applying them to winter habitat selection by woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) using two key habitat components, Cladina lichens and snow depth. We quantified selection as the reduction in variance in used relative to available sites, thus avoiding reliance on correlations between organism and habitat, for which interpretation can be impeded by cross-scale correlations. By consistently selecting favorable habitat features, caribou experienced reduced variance in these features. The degree to which selection was accounted for by the travel route, feeding area, or microsite levels varied across the scale continuum. Caribou selected for Cladina within a 13-km scale domain and selected shallower snow at all scales. Caribou responded most strongly at the dominant scales of patchiness, implicating habitat heterogeneity as an underlying cause of multi-scale habitat selection. These novel approaches enable a spatial understanding of resource selection behavior.

Linking ice structure and microscale variability of algal biomass in Arctic first-year sea ice using an in situ photographic technique

Microscale photographs were taken of the ice bottom to examine linkages of algal chlorophyll a (chl a) biomass distribution with bottom ice features in thick Arctic first-year sea ice during a spring field program which took place from May 5 to 21, 2003. The photographic technique developed in this paper has resulted in the first in situ observations of microscale variability in bottom ice algae distribution in Arctic first-year sea ice in relation to ice morphology. Observations of brine channel diameter (1.65–2.68 mm) and number density (5.33–10.35 per 100 cm2) showed that the number of these channels at the bottom of thick first-year sea ice may be greater than previously measured on extracted ice samples. A variogram analysis showed that over areas of low chl a biomass (≤20.7 mg chl a m−2), patchiness in bottom ice chl a biomass was at the scale of brine layer spacing and small brine channels (∼1–3 mm). Over areas of high chl a biomass (≥34.6 mg chl a m−2), patchiness in biomass was related to the spacing of larger brine channels on the ice bottom (∼10–26 mm). Brine layers and channels are thought to provide microscale maxima of light, nutrient replenishment and space availability which would explain the small scale patchiness over areas of low algal biomass. However, ice melt and erosion near brine channels may play a more important role in areas with high algal biomass and low snow cover.

QUANTIFYING POPULATION SUBSTRUCTURE: EXTENDING THE GRAPH-THEORETIC APPROACH

Among the few universal themes in ecology is that resources, energy, and organisms themselves, are patchily distributed. This patchy distribution imposes a need for some level of dispersal or connectivity among spatially separate patches in order to allow organisms to acquire sufficient resources for survival. To date, general patterns of connectivity have not emerged. This is, in part, because different species respond to different scales of patchiness. I propose an extension of the graph-theoretic approach to control for such differences and reveal potential generalities about how natural populations are organized. Using statistical methods and simple applications of graph theory, continuum percolation, and metapopulation models, I demonstrate a pattern of hierarchical clustering among populations in both a plant-pathogen system at an extent of 1000 m and gene flow in a salamander species across a subcontinental range. Results suggest that some patches or populations have a disproportionately high importance to the maintenance of overall connectivity in the system within and across scales.

Preference in patchy landscapes: the influence of scale-specific intake rates and variance in reward

Understanding the responses of foragers to patchy distributions of resources has formed a fundamental challenge in behavioral ecology. Two currencies have been used to assess the patch preferences of herbivores—intake rate maximization and risk sensitivity. We wished to understand if small mammalian foragers, collared lemmings (Dichrostonyx groenlandicus), choose patches to maximize food intake rate or to reduce risk of starvation in “variable” environments. Moreover, we examined the possibility that maximizing intake rate depends on the spatial scale of patchiness. We designed an experiment offering two alternative patches of food, varying the predictability of food rewards and the “potential intake rate” at different spatial scales. Collared lemmings did not consistently select patches that maximized their intake rate at either scale studied. Instead, they chose patches offering the least variation in food reward over the course of the experiment. Collared lemmings used prior knowledge gained from previous foraging bouts to assess food variability. We interpret these results as evidence for risk-averse foraging strategies, which are predicted for continuous foragers aiming to minimize risk of starvation.

TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF GRASS PRODUCTIVITY IN THE CENTRAL NAMIB DESERT

The production of grass was investigated on the gravel plains of the Central Namib Desert, Namibia, during 10 rainfall seasons sampled between 1989-2003. The aim was to evaluate the rainfall-productivity relationship, to elucidate the relationship between temporal and spatial variability, and to examine the spatial scale of patchiness. We compared two different methods and found that a less accurate rapid assessment of grass cover correlat- ed well with measurements of biomass. Our data were in agreement with previous determina- tions of the desert end of the curve of grassland productivity, and productivity was closely related to the rainfall of the particular season. There was high variability between years at study sites, especially in the west (CV=279%), where it rained more seldom than in the east (CV=86%). During all years rainfall was very patchy at a spatial scale of 5 km, which appar- ently reflected the storm path of individual rain clouds. Long-term monitoring should be continued in order to detect changes of pattern in this rainfall-driven system.

Sampling and Statistical Considerations for Hydroacoustic Surveys Used in Estimating Abundance of Forage Fishes in Reservoirs

AbstractAn understanding of the spatial distribution of forage fish resources is required to make informed fishery management decisions. We used mobile hydroacoustics to assess the distribution and abundance of forage fish in Badin Lake, a reservoir in central North Carolina. By sampling a series of cross‐channel and longitudinal transects and analyzing the data using geostatistics, we characterized both large‐ and small‐scale spatial patterns in forage fish density. Forage fish were observed in higher densities in upstream regions of the reservoir and were seen only in surface waters during July 2000 owing to the existence of a strong thermo–oxycline and in two layers (surface and near bottom) during mixed conditions in December 2001. We observed differences in the scale of patchiness (200–700 m) in forage fish distribution depending on the region of the reservoir where sampling took place, and we infer that these patterns are governed by prevailing limnological conditions. Modeling the spatial variation in the acoustic data using geostatistics resulted in similar average densities (July 2000: 0.56 ± 0.28 (mean ± SD) fish/m2; December 2001: 0.57 ± 0.49 fish/m2) and improvements in the precision of abundance estimates based on approximated variance (July 2000: 7.05 × 106 ± 8.30 × 105 fish; December 2001: 7.07 × 106 ± 2.10 × 106 fish) when compared with arithmetic averaging and extrapolation (July 2000: 0.60 ± 0.61 fish/m2, 7.5 × 106 ± 4.61 × 106 fish; December 2001: 0.60 ± 0.69 fish/m2, 8.00 × 106 ± 6.34 × 106 fish). We found that sampling along longitudinal transects is a more efficient way to characterize the spatial patterns of forage fish distribution and to estimate systemwide abundance and biomass than using data collected with both a longitudinal and cross‐channel sampling design in this system.

A three-axis fast-tow digital Video Plankton Recorder for rapid surveys of plankton taxa and hydrography

A new Video Plankton Recorder (VPRII) has been developed for rapid surveys of plankton and seston in the size range of 100µm–1cm. The VPRII system includes: 1) a high-resolution digital camera (1Mpixel, 10-bits, 30Hz frame-rate), 2) a fast towfish capable of tow speeds up to 12 knots and 3-axis motion for automatic undulation and ship-wake avoidance, small diameter tow cable and winch for deployment on coastal vessels, and 3) new interface software (Visual Plankton) for automatic identification of plankton to major taxa and visualization of these taxa together with hydrographic data in real time. Camera and strobe optics are laboratory-adjusted to select the field-of-view (5–20mm), and depth-of-field is objectively calibrated using a tethered organism (e.g., copepod) and automatic focus-detection software. The VPRII towfish comprises a fuselage, a fixed main wing, and three servo-controlled tail fins: port and starboard for dive, climb, and roll control and rudder for lateral movement. Placement of the strobe (starboard wing-tip), camera (fuselage nose), and cantilevered tow-bridle minimize disturbance of the imaged volume. Compared with typical net surveys in shelf areas, the VPRII counts more plankton per station, quantifies ubiquitous fragile forms, automatically identifies plankton to major taxa and measures their size, quantifies scales of patchiness down to a few cm, and displays high-resolution distributions of plankton taxa and hydrography while underway. The VPRII is available to researchers via the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ship instrumentation pool.

Competition landscapes: scaling up local biotic and abiotic processes in heterogeneous environments

I present a model based on benthic populations by first defining a competition landscape where competitive interactions are confined to small areas, defined by the distribution of resource renewal from a global pool. Using truncated kernels and results from 1-dimensional percolation theory, I then derive an approximation allowing the scaling up of local interactions among individuals to patch and landscape levels. This approximation is used to explore how spatially structured habitats can affect competition intensity. The competition landscape is then compared to a simulation of mussel colonization under various flow velocity patterns, and is shown to predict the qualitative effect of the scale of patchiness in habitat quality on total competition intensity. The interaction between large scale hydrodynamic forcing and local competition is also shown to provide an alternate hypothesis explaining the observed among-year reversal of the relationship between topographic scale and mussel abundance in some intertidal communities. The model more generally highlights the nonlinear scaling up of competitive interactions in competition landscapes, and provides a framework for the study of self-organization in heterogeneous ecosystems.

Phytoplankton blooms and fish recruitment rate: effects of spatial distribution

We consider the spatio-temporal dynamics of a spatially-structured generalization of the phytoplankton-zooplankton-fish larvae model system proposed earlier (Biktashev et al., 2003, J. Plankton Res. 5, 21–33; James et al., 2003, Ecol. Model. 160, 77–90). In contrast to Pitchford and Brindley (2001, Bull. Math. Biol. 63, 527–546), who were concerned with small scale patchiness (i.e., 1–10 m), on which the (stochastic) raptorial behaviour of individual larvae is important, we address here the much larger scale ‘patchy’ problems (i.e., 10–100 km), on which both larvae and plankton may be regarded as passive tracers of the fluid motion, dispersed and mixed by the turbulent diffusion processes. In particular, we study the dependence of the fish recruitment on carrying capacities of the plankton subsystem and on spatio-temporal evolution of that subsystem with respect to the larvae hatching site(s). It is shown that the main features found both in the nonstructured and age-structured spatially uniform models are observed in the spatially structured case, but that spatial effects can significantly modify the overall quantitative outcome. Spatial patterns in the metamorphosed fish distribution are a consequence of quasi-local interaction of larvae with plankton, in which the dispersion of larvae by large scale turbulent eddies plays little part due to the relatively short timescale of the larvae development. As a result, in a strong phyto/zooplankton subsystem, with fast reproduction rate and large carrying capacity of phytoplankton and high conversion ratio of zooplankton, recruitment success depends only on the localization and timing of the hatching with respect to the plankton patches. In a weak phyto/zooplankton system, with slow reproduction rate and small carrying capacity of phytoplankton and low conversion ratio of zooplankton, the larvae may significantly influence the evolution of the plankton patches, which may lead to nontrivial cooperative effects between different patches of larvae. However, in this case, recruitment is very low.

Transcending Patchiness in the Comparative Analysis of Paleocommunities: A Test Case from the Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey

Other| February 01, 2003 Transcending Patchiness in the Comparative Analysis of Paleocommunities: A Test Case from the Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey J BRET BENNINGTON J BRET BENNINGTON 1Department of Geology, 114 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549, geojbb@hofstra.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar PALAIOS (2003) 18 (1): 22–33. https://doi.org/10.1669/0883-1351(2003)018<0022:TPITCA>2.0.CO;2 Article history accepted: 26 May 2002 first online: 03 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation J BRET BENNINGTON; Transcending Patchiness in the Comparative Analysis of Paleocommunities: A Test Case from the Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey. PALAIOS 2003;; 18 (1): 22–33. doi: https://doi.org/10.1669/0883-1351(2003)018<0022:TPITCA>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyPALAIOS Search Advanced Search Abstract Estimates of species abundance used to quantitatively describe paleocommunities are more precise and more reliable when sampling effort is distributed among many small replicate samples, rather than concentrated in the collecting of one or a few large samples. This is because sampling error is introduced by the patchy distribution of individuals within a fossil deposit. This study applies a dispersed sampling protocol to compare the fossil assemblages preserved within a marine shell bed at two different localities of the Upper Cretaceous Navesink Formation in east-central New Jersey. A spatial hierarchy of small bulk samples (replicate samples collected along an outcrop, samples from different outcrops within a locality, and samples collected from two different localities) reveals the magnitude and scale of patchiness in the distribution of macrofauna in the Navesink shell bed. Species abundance is highly variable between replicate samples and moderately variable between outcrops due to small scale patchiness. Nevertheless, estimates of species abundance generated by collecting across the patches at each locality reveal that the overall species abundance distribution for the Navesink shell bed is nearly identical between the two localities. When collecting effort is dispersed among many widely distributed samples, different patches of fossil remains are sampled and contribute to the overall estimate of average composition obtained for a locality. Comparisons of fossil assemblages between localities or horizons are rendered more reliable by decreasing the probability that compositionally different patches have been sampled within otherwise identical paleocommunities. The significance of differences detected between local paleocommunities can be assessed more confidently when replicate samples provide a measure of local variability arising from patchiness. Paleontologists sampling to describe the species abundance composition of a discrete region of a stratigraphic horizon (e.g., outcrop, locality) should define the spatial scale of the region they are describing and disperse their sampling effort within that region. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Multibeam volume acoustic backscatter imagery and reverberation measurements in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.

Multibeam volume acoustic backscatter imagery and reverberation measurements are derived from data collected in 200-m-deep waters in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, with the Toroidal Volume Search Sonar (TVSS), a 68-kHz cylindrical sonar operated by the U.S. Navy's Coastal System Station. The TVSS's 360-degree vertical imaging plane allows simultaneous identification of multiple volume scattering sources and their discrimination from backscatter at the sea surface or the seafloor. This imaging capability is used to construct a three-dimensional representation of a pelagic fish school near the bottom. Scattering layers imaged in the mixed layer and upper thermocline are attributed to assemblages of epipelagic zooplankton. The fine scale patchiness of these scatterers is assessed with the two-dimensional variance spectra of vertical volume scattering strength images in the upper and middle water column. Mean volume reverberation levels exhibit a vertical directionality which is attributed to the volume scattering layers. Boundary echo sidelobe interference and reverberation is shown to be the major limitation in obtaining bioacoustic data with the TVSS. Because net tow and trawl samples were not collected with the acoustic data, the analysis presented is based upon comparison to previous biologic surveys in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and reference to the bioacoustic literature.