Calculation of species sensitivity values and their precision in marine benthic faunal quality indices

• A challenging aspect of benthic quality indices used for assessing the marine environment has been to compile reliable measures of the species' sensitivity to disturbances. Sensitivity values and their uncertainties can be calculated, but a problem to cope with is that the results may depend on the actual proportion of samples from disturbed and undisturbed environments. Here we calculated sensitivity values for each species along an artificial disturbance gradient created by bootstrapping varying numbers of samples from disturbed and undisturbed environments. The values were increasing, decreasing, or more or less constant along this gradient. The lowest value with the lowest uncertainty was adopted as the species sensitivity value. Analyses of the uncertainties indicated that the accuracy rather than the precision might be a concern. We suggest a method to exclude species for which the uncertainty is outside predefined limits as a precaution to reduce bias in the environmental status classification.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske -- Fisk- och akvakulturforskning (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -- Fish and Aquacultural Science (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Benthic invertebrates

Disturbance

Kattegat

Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Skagerrak

Water

BIOTIC INDEXES

ECOLOGICAL QUALITY

COASTAL

ESTUARINE

DIVERSITY

LIONS

GULF

Environmental Sciences

Marine & Freshwater Biology

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