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Analysis of Benthic Communities in the Cyclades Plateau (Aegean Sea) Using Ecological and Paleoecological Data Sets
Author(s) -
Zenetos Argyro,
Papathanassiou Evangelos,
Aartsen Jacobus J. Van
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
marine ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.668
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1439-0485
pISSN - 0173-9565
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0485.1991.tb00247.x
Subject(s) - fauna , subfossil , benthic zone , ecology , cyclades , plateau (mathematics) , geography , paleoecology , geology , biology , oceanography , holocene , archaeology , mathematical analysis , mathematics
. In the Cyclades plateau (Aegean Sea), a qualitative and quantitative analysis of macro‐benthic fauna was carried out in 1986. Standard multivariate analysis techniques were applied to both ecological (living benthic fauna) and paleoecological data sets in order to distinguish distribution patterns. Results showed that caution must prevail in drawing conclusions from a limited data set. The clearest classification was obtained using total living fauna, while the dead molluscan fauna gave a similar pattern; this indicates similar response to the environmental conditions of the area. In the analysis of the living molluscan fauna, the groups failed to show any clusters, probably as an effect of some impoverished sites. In the two groups delineated, depth seems to be the major factor in the distribution of species. The fact that two distinct data sets (subfossil assemblages and living communities), when treated separately, produce similar grouping indicates that the subfossil assemblages could be reliably used as a first approach for determination of the living communities' distribution patterns.