Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - 10:45 AM
157

Threshold indicator taxa analysis (TITAN): A simple method for identifying and interpreting biodiversity thresholds

Ryan S. King, Department of Biology, Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97266, Waco, TX 76798-7266 and Matthew E. Baker, Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 211 Sondhiem Hall, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250.

We introduce Threshold Indicator Taxa ANalysis (TITAN) as a simple method of identifying and interpreting biodiversity and community thresholds along an environmental gradient.  TITAN is based on indicator species analysis (IndVal), a widely accepted method for identifying indicator taxa among levels of a categorical variable.  In TITAN, we extend principles of IndVal to identify the value of a continuous variable, x, resulting in the optimal partitioning of sample units to the left and right of x based on normalized indicator values (z) for individual taxa and additive response of all indicator z scores (sum(z)) at the community level.  Negatively responding taxa (z–) are distinguished from those responding positively (z+) to yield taxa-specific threshold distributions as well as cumulative threshold responses of declining (sum(z–)) and increasing (sum(z+)) subsets of the community.  Resampling procedures are used to measure indicator purity and uncertainty surrounding thresholds.  We illustrate the advantages of TITAN using a simulated data set and by retrospectively analyzing two aquatic macroinvertebrate community data sets spanning a watershed urbanization gradient in Maryland and a phosphorus gradient in the Florida Everglades, USA.  We contrast TITAN with a complementary method, multivariate regression trees, to acknowledge similarities while illustrating differences that arise when considering taxa-specific responses. 


Web Page: ecological thresholds, community analysis, anthropogenic gradients