Code for: Pruden, M.J., Smith, J.A., Handley, J.C., Dietl, G.P. (In Review). Assessing the effects of time-averaging and differential preservation on the geohistorical AZTI Marine Biotic Index (geoAMBI).

Le résumé fourni par la source

The code included here was used to produce the manuscript: Pruden, M.J., Smith, J.A., Handley, J.C., Dietl, G.P. (In Review). Assessing the effects of time-averaging and differential preservation on the geohistorical AZTI Marine Biotic Index (geoAMBI). Abstract: The youngest portion of the geohistorical record, including death assemblages of recently dead mollusks, provides otherwise unattainable context for understanding present-day biodiversity. Integrating molluscan death assemblage data into management-relevant biotic indices is a promising direction for applying geohistorical data in conservation practice. Realizing this potential requires understanding long-acting taphonomic processes that shape the geohistorical record. Here, we use a multi-century simulation parameterized on living molluscan communities from Long Island Sound (USA) to assess the effects of time-averaging and differential preservation on the geohistorical AZTI Marine Biotic Index (geoAMBI) under constant and changing environmental conditions. Allowing time-averaging to vary did not substantially influence geoAMBI scores, likely due to a novel reverse rank-order abundance data transformation that better accounts for taphonomic biases. Differences in preservational potential also mitigated time-averaging effects, as species assigned to different pollution-tolerance groups are differently preserved. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential of geoAMBI to leverage the molluscan geohistorical record for environmental management while emphasizing the need for improved species-specific preservational potential data to more accurately assess past biological condition.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.