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Accounting for Uncertainties in Biodiversity Estimations: A New Methodology and Its Application to the Mesopelagic Sound Scattering Layer of the High Arctic

Abstract

Measures of biological diversity (biodiversity) are important for monitoring the state of ecosystems. Several indices and methods are used to describe biodiversity from field observations. Marine faunal biodiversity is often quantified based on analysis of samples collected using a trawl during research surveys. To monitor spatial and temporal changes in biodiversity between surveys, samples are generally collected from a series of stations. Inference regarding changes in biodiversity must account for uncertainties in the estimation of the values for the different biodiversity indices used. Estimation for a single station is affected by spatial-temporal variation in the species composition in the area and by uncertainty due to the finite sample size taken by the trawl. Therefore, variation between stations needs to be accounted for when estimating uncertainty for values of different indices during a survey as total or as mean for the survey. Herein, we present a method based on nested bootstrapping that accounts for uncertainties in the estimation of various indices and which can be used to infer changes in biodiversity. Application of this methodology is demonstrated using data collected in the mesopelagic sound scattering layer in the high Arctic.
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Category

Academic article

Language

English

Author(s)

  • Bent Herrmann
  • Kristine Cerbule
  • Jure Brčić
  • Eduardo Enrique Grimaldo Vela
  • Maxime Geoffroy
  • Malin Daase
  • Jørgen Berge

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Ocean / Fisheries and New Biomarine Industry
  • Technical University of Denmark
  • University of Split
  • UiT The Arctic University of Norway
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • The University Centre in Svalbard
  • Memorial University of Newfoundland - Branch: Fisheries and Marine Institute

Year

2022

Published in

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Volume

10

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository