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Strategy for data analysis in environmental surveys emphasizing the index of biotic similarity and BIOSIM1
Author(s) -
Pearson J. Gareth,
Pinkham Carlos F. A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/wer.64.7.8
Subject(s) - similarity (geometry) , index (typography) , computer science , data science , ecology , artificial intelligence , world wide web , biology , image (mathematics)
The index of biotic similarity ( B ) was intended to help pollution biologists reach a better understanding of their data. However, problems that surfaced after its publication in 1976 indicated that improvements would be helpful. This paper presents these improvements. The approach has been threefold: first, we introduce a computer program, BIOSIM l, that automates many of the procedures that would otherwise have to be done laboriously by hand; second, we discuss a thorough and ecologically sound strategy for analyzing data using BIOSIM l; and third, we present ways to use the various options inherent in the first two steps and discuss the ecological conditions under which each option is appropriate.