Assessing environmental quality: a novel approach

摘要: A new approach to assess environmental integrity based on PRC analysis was proposed, tested, validated and developed. Environmental health assessment community studies usually result in complex biological data sets. In order find ecologically relevant patterns tendencies from such sets of it is necessary reduce all the information a summarised simplified form, which might be more easily interpreted by ecologists, politicians, end-users population general. However, several multivariate ordination methods currently used (e.g. redundancy analy- sis, principal component analysis, or multi-dimensional scaling) produce diagrams for non-ecologist, do not allow changes communities over time under- stood. Here, we propose recently developed method, response curves (PRC) overcome these issues. This method has advantages traditional techniques, any biotic index, that provides powerful statistical temporal series along spatial gra- dients. The technique can make use non-disturbed unpolluted areas as reference sites with other are compared, making possible species composition between different time. Moreover, individual responses stress agents inferred curves. As well providing insights into behaviour natural ecosys- tems — particular, how ecosystem this potentially provide practical tool monitoring implementing policy instruments.