Multivariate Approaches to Algal Stratagems and Tactics in Systems Analysis of Phytoplankton

Numerical classifications and principal components ordinations were performed on species from 57 weekly samples of photoplankton from Lake Wingra. The data were considered in absolute and relative terms before and after transformation to presence/absence and logarithmic quantities. The data were als...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology (Durham) 1973-11, Vol.54 (6), p.1234-1246
Main Authors: Allen, T. F. H., Koonce, J. F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological taxonomies
Biomass
Diatoms
Ordinations
Phytoplankton
Plants
Population ecology
Productivity
Species
Sustainable agriculture
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Summary:Numerical classifications and principal components ordinations were performed on species from 57 weekly samples of photoplankton from Lake Wingra. The data were considered in absolute and relative terms before and after transformation to presence/absence and logarithmic quantities. The data were also analyzed, taking into account growth rates in the samples, by means of a transformation that replaced the scores of species present by the productivity of the sample as determined by C_(14) uptake/biomass. It is shown that different transformations can reveal different but biologically meaningful aspects of the data. These different biological aspects are species similarities based on either short-term survival expedients in particular environmental circumstances, species tactics, or long-range growth patterns, involving breadth of tolerance and place in the community, that is, species stratagems. Most phytoplankton species in Lake Wingra adopt one of three stratagems: either ungrazed, slow-growing and very persistent, or ungrazed, fast-growing and of intermediate duration, or grazed fast-growing and ephemeral. Tactical information is relevant to particular systems, while strategic information is needed in ecosystem comparison and for models applicable to several systems.
ISSN:0012-9658
1939-9170
DOI:10.2307/1934186