Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK.
Trends Ecol Evol. 2010 Oct;25(10):574-82. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2010.06.016. Epub 2010 Jul 23.
The growing need for baseline data against which efforts to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss can be judged highlights the importance of long-term datasets, some of which are as old as ecology itself. We review methods of evaluating change in biodiversity at the community level using these datasets, and contrast whole-community approaches with those that combine information from different species and habitats. As all communities experience temporal turnover, one of the biggest challenges is distinguishing change that can be attributed to external factors, such as anthropogenic activities, from underlying natural change. We also discuss methodological issues, such as false alerts and modifications in design, of which users of these data sets need to be aware.
对生物多样性丧失率降低的努力进行评估的基础数据的需求日益增长，这凸显了长期数据集的重要性，其中一些数据集的历史与生态学本身一样悠久。我们回顾了使用这些数据集评估群落水平生物多样性变化的方法，并对比了整体群落方法与那些结合不同物种和生境信息的方法。由于所有群落都经历了时间上的更替，最大的挑战之一是区分可以归因于人为活动等外部因素的变化与潜在的自然变化。我们还讨论了这些数据集使用者需要注意的方法学问题，如虚假警报和设计的修改。
