Università di Pisa, Dipartimento di Biologia, Via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
Environ Pollut. 2010 Jan;158(1):26-34. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2009.08.020. Epub 2009 Sep 23.
The aim of this study was to analyse the variability of four different benthic biotic indices (AMBI, BENTIX, H', M-AMBI) in two marine coastal areas of the North-Western Mediterranean Sea. In each coastal area, 36 replicates were randomly selected according to a hierarchical sampling design, which allowed estimating the variance components of the indices associated with four different spatial scales (ranging from metres to kilometres). All the analyses were performed at two different sampling periods in order to evaluate if the observed trends were consistent over the time. The variance components of the four indices revealed complex trends and different patterns in the two sampling periods. These results highlighted that independently from the employed index, a rigorous and appropriate sampling design taking into account different scales should always be used in order to avoid erroneous classifications and to develop effective monitoring programs.
本研究旨在分析西北地中海两个海洋沿海地区四种不同底栖生物指数（AMBI、BENTIX、H'、M-AMBI）的变异性。在每个沿海地区，根据分层抽样设计随机选择 36 个样本，以估计与四个不同空间尺度（从米到公里）相关的指数的方差分量。所有分析均在两个不同的采样期进行，以评估所观察到的趋势是否随时间保持一致。四个指数的方差分量揭示了在两个采样期呈现复杂趋势和不同模式。这些结果表明，无论采用何种指数，都应始终使用严格且适当的采样设计，考虑不同的尺度，以避免错误的分类并制定有效的监测计划。
