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A comparison of univariate and multivariate numerical and graphical techniques for determining inter‐ and intraspecific feeding relationships in estuarine fish
Author(s) -
Marshall S.,
Elliott M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1997.tb01510.x
Subject(s) - intraspecific competition , biology , multivariate statistics , univariate , ordination , ecology , multivariate analysis , interspecific competition , niche , detrended correspondence analysis , statistics , competition (biology) , mathematics
The advantages and disadvantages of various numerical and graphical techniques for the analysis of inter‐ and intraspecific feeding relationships of fishes were examined. All methods have been cited in the literature since 1988. The index of preponderance, the resultant index and graphical methods proposed by Costello and Tokeshi were used to illustrate the relative importance of prey species to an individual fish species with no differentiation between size classes. Inter‐ and intraspecific competition and niche overlap were determined from multivariate analysis [the ordination technique, detrended correspondence analysis, cluster analysis by the Bray‐Curtis equation, per cent overlap and two‐way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN)]. The identity of the prey organisms are not lost in the comparisons, and the value of this is determined through comparison with techniques such as Shannon‐Wiener which obscure these data. The Shannon‐Wiener diversity index was combined with an analysis of ‘evenness’ to refine the technique further to assess niche breadth, as was the Levins index. The study shows that to give an estimate of competition within the community, it is important to assess the data with respect to seasonal and temporal patterns using multivariate analysis.