Resumen de Do Changes in the Length of the List of Reference Species Influence the Results of the Average Taxonomic Distinctness?
Norberto Capetillo Piñar, Manuel J. Zetina-Rejón, Susana Perera Valderrama, Arturo Tripp Quezada, Alejandro Bosch Callar, José Espinosa Sáez, Yuliesky Garcés
Among the advantages of the index of average taxonomic distinction is that of generating a statistical reference framework to contrast the values observed from simple lists of species. This property is important for environmental monitoring studies, since it does not require control sites or few disturbed sites to know the environmental quality of a locality, which implies a decrease in operating costs and time savings. However, little research has been done on the effect of changes in the length (number of species) of species lists on the result and interpretation of this index. In this study, the effect of different lengths of species lists on this index was analyzed. Three species lists of benthic bivalve mollusks from the Cuban marine shelf were compiled: two local and one national. Our results indicated that changes in the length of the species lists affected the results and the interpretation of the average taxonomic distinctness index. In this sense, for the use of a local or national species list it is important to specify the objective of the research to be carried out. We also found that the combined use of species lists of different lengths can indicate the degree of deterioration of the sites analyzed, which is of vital importance for environmental monitoring studies.
