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Beta diversity reconsidered
Author(s) -
Bacaro Giovanni,
Gioria Margherita,
Ricotta Carlo
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
ecological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1440-1703
pISSN - 0912-3814
DOI - 10.1007/s11284-013-1043-z
Subject(s) - shuffling , null hypothesis , statistics , null model
A simple analytical procedure to test for differences in beta diversity among sets of plots has been recently presented. Here, we describe an improved randomization procedure that replaces the one previously proposed. This procedure consists of shuffling within‐group dissimilarities among groups and disregarding between‐group dissimilarities. By repeating this operation many times, a distribution of the test statistics under the null hypothesis of no differences in the mean plot‐to‐plot dissimilarities within groups is obtained. This procedure ensures that the correct null model is selected. To describe this new procedure, we used plant and water beetle (Coleoptera) data collected from 45 permanent ponds. Beta diversity was compared between plant and water beetle (Coleoptera) assemblages.