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Multivariate approaches to the variation in phytobenthic communities and environmental vectors in the Baltic Sea

1990; Inter-Research; Volume: 60; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/meps060169

1616-1599

Hans Kautsky, Eddy van der Maarel,

Marine and environmental studies

Quantitative data on plant and animal distribution, biomass and environmental data from vegetation-covered bottoms in the northern Baltic proper are analyzed with numerical methods used in modern terrestrial vegetation analysis.The classification and matrix-structuring method TABORD and the ordination method detrended canonical correspondence analysis (DCCA) are descnbed in some detail.The main alm of these multivariate analyses 1s to correlate environmental factors with detected patterns of species distribution.As the material had already been analyzed by conventional techniques, an evaluat~on of the multivariate methods was poss~ble.They proved to be of good help ~n interpreting large data sets from phytobenthic communities.The analyses stress the importance of depth, bottom type and wave exposure, in order of decreasing importance, as the major factors ruling the observed zonation patterns.In contrast with true marine ecosystems, biotic interactions seem to be of minor importance for the establishment of large-scale zonation of phytobenthos in the Baltic Sea.