Simulation of multidimensional community patterns: towards a comprehensive model

✍ Scribed by Peter R. Minchin

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 882 KB
• Volume: 71
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1385-0237
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00039167

✦ Synopsis

Simulated data, derived from descriptive models of community variation along ecological gradients, are useful for the evaluation of ordination techniques and other numerical methods for the analysis of community data. Existing approaches to the simulation of community patterns are based on restrictive assumptions, although there is evidence supporting several alternative models. Simulation studies should aim to assess the robustness of analytical techniques to variations in model properties. This paper describes a modelling procedure which encompasses most current concepts and hypotheses about the properties of community patterns. The procedure has been used to assess the comparative robustness of several ordination techniques and to examine the effectiveness of alternative coefficients of compositional dissimilarity. COMPAS, a FOR-TRAN 77 computer program which implements the modelling procedure, is available on application to the author.