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Published on: July 30, 2019
Quantifying the indicator power of an indicator species
Panu Halme1, Mikko Mönkkönen, Janne S Kotiaho
1Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland. pahalme@cc.jyu.fi
Summary
A new method quantifies indicator power (IP) for species, helping identify reliable indicators for rare or hard-to-detect species. This aids conservation by efficiently locating target species through their indicators.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Conservation Biology
- Biodiversity Assessment
Background:
- Biodiversity indicator species are crucial for biotope classification and conservation site identification.
- Existing methods focus on site classification, but a need exists for indicators of specific species' presence.
- Identifying indicator species for hard-to-detect target species can save significant time and resources in conservation efforts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To derive a quantitative measure of indicator power (IP) for assessing an indicator species' ability to predict the presence of a target species or species assemblage.
- To develop an objective method for evaluating the reliability of indicator species in ecological assessments.
- To explore different types of species occurrence indications (presence-presence, presence-absence, absence-presence, absence-absence).
Main Methods:
- Developed a method to calculate indicator power (IP) using a presence-absence matrix across multiple sites.
- IP is maximized when shared occurrences are high and separate occurrences are low between indicator and target species.
- The method considers the number of sites with no occurrences of either species.
Main Results:
- The study successfully derived a quantitative measure for indicator power (IP).
- The method identified suitable indicator species for red-listed polypores in White-backed Woodpecker habitats in Fennoscandia.
- The IP is influenced by the co-occurrence patterns and the number of sites lacking both species.
Conclusions:
- The proposed method offers a novel and objective approach to evaluating the indicator power of species.
- This quantitative measure enhances the utility of indicator species for conservation, particularly for rare or elusive species.
- The findings support the use of indicator species as a cost-effective tool in biodiversity monitoring and habitat assessment.
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