Significance testing testate amoeba water table reconstructions

QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS

卷:138

Article

Payne, Richard J.^1,2  Babeshko, Kirill V.²  van Bellen, Simon³  Blackford, Jeffrey J.⁴  Booth, Robert K.⁵  Charman, Dan J.⁶  Ellershaw, Megan R.⁷  Gilbert, Daniel⁸  Hughes, Paul D. M.⁹  Jassey, Vincent E. J.^8,10  Lamentowicz, Lukasz¹¹  Lamentowicz, Mariusz¹¹  Malysheva, Elena A.²  Mauquoy, Dmitri¹²  Mazei, Yuri^2,13  Mitchell, Edward A. D.^14,15  Swindles, Graeme T.¹⁶  Tsyganov, Andrey N.²  Turner, T. Edward¹⁶  Telford, Richard J.¹⁷ 

[1] Univ York, Environm, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire, England

[2] Penza State Univ, Dept Zool & Ecol, Krasnaya Str 40, Penza 440026, Russia

[3] Univ Quebec, GEOTOP, 201 Ave President Kennedy, Montreal, PQ H2X 3Y7, Canada

[4] Univ Hull, Dept Geog Environm & Earth Sci, Cottingham Rd, Kingston Upon Hull HU6 7RX, N Humberside, England

[5] Lehigh Univ, Dept Earth & Environm Sci, 1 West Packer Ave, Bethlehem, PA 18015 USA

[6] Univ Exeter, Coll Life & Environm Sci, Geog, Amory Bldg,Rennes Dr, Exeter EX4 4RJ, Devon, England

[7] Nat England, Northminster House, Peterborough PE1 1UA, Cambs, England

[8] Univ Franche Comte, CNRS, Lab Chronoenvironm, UMR 6249,UFR Sci & Tech, 16 Route Gray, F-25030 Besancon, France

[9] Univ Southampton, Geog & Environm, Univ Rd, Southampton SO17 1BJ, Hants, England

[10] Swiss Fed Inst Forest Snow & Landscape Res WSL, Site Lausanne,Stn 2, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

[11] Adam Mickiewicz Univ, Fac Geog & Geol Sci, Dept Biogeog & Palaeoecol, Ul Dziegielowa 27, PL-61680 Poznan, Poland

[12] Univ Aberdeen, Sch Geosci, Elphinstone Rd, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, Scotland

[13] Moscow MV Lomonosov State Univ, Dept Hydrobiol, Leninskiye Gory 1, Moscow 119991, Russia

[14] Univ Neuchatel, Lab Soil Biol, Rue Emile Argand 11, CH-2000 Neuchatel, Switzerland

[15] Jardin Bot Neuchatel, Pertuis du Sault 58, CH-2000 Neuchatel, Switzerland

[16] Univ Leeds, Sch Geog, Leeds LS2 9JT, W Yorkshire, England

[17] Univ Bergen, Dept Biol, EECRG, Allegaten 41, N-5007 Bergen, Norway

关键词: Testate amoeba;    Protist;    Palaeoecology;    Palaeohydrology;    Transfer function;    RandomTF;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.01.030

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Transfer functions are valuable tools in palaeoecology, but their output may not always be meaningful. A recently-developed statistical test ('randomTF') offers the potential to distinguish among reconstructions which are more likely to be useful, and those less so. We applied this test to a large number of reconstructions of peatland water table depth based on testate amoebae. Contrary to our expectations, a substantial majority (25 of 30) of these reconstructions gave non-significant results (P > 0.05). The underlying reasons for this outcome are unclear. We found no significant correlation between randomTF P-value and transfer function performance, the properties of the training set and reconstruction, or measures of transfer function fit. These results give cause for concern but we believe it would be extremely premature to discount the results of non-significant reconstructions. We stress the need for more critical assessment of transfer function output, replication of results and ecologically-informed interpretation of palaeoecological data. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free