Abstract
A new method to single out the environmental factor limiting the life of any macrobenthic animal under stressed condition is proposed. The method is based on the assumption that the influence of each environmental factor on the life of a species can be expressed by an S-shaped function having lethal, limiting and non-limiting ranges, and the combined effect of several environmental factors is expressed by a multiple of these functions. To single out a lethal factor, we used the cumulative curve of abundance arranged in the order of each environmental factor. Comparison of these curves enables us to identify the most effective environmental factor limiting the life of a particular species and determine its effective range. Determination can be made from a single field observation without recourse to specially prepared experimental data if a sufficiently extensive survey was made in a field observation. The method was applied to the field data obtained from 248 stations at Lake Shinji, Japan, in the summer of 1982.
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Communicated by M. Anraku, Tokyo
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Yamamuro, M., Nakamura, M. & Nishimura, M. A method for detecting and identifying the lethal environmental factor on a dominant macrobenthos and its application to Lake Shinji, Japan. Mar. Biol. 107, 479–483 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01313432
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01313432