Data from: Size of dominant diatom species can alter their evenness

Sugie, Koji, Hokkaido University

Suzuki, Koji, Hokkaido University

Published Jun 10, 2016 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k247v

Cite this dataset

Sugie, Koji; Suzuki, Koji (2016). Data from: Size of dominant diatom species can alter their evenness [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k247v

Abstract

Traditionally, biodiversity has often been estimated on the basis of abundance partly due to the need for complicated measurements of biomass. Here, we conducted robust measurements of the community composition and of the size structure of diatoms in the North Pacific to evaluate the importance of biomass on the biodiversity. We found that the two most useful evenness indices increased in most cases where small species were numerically dominant when calculations were based on biomass compared with those on abundance. Size-abundance spectra of diatoms revealed that numerically dominant small species rarely dominated in terms of biomass. On the other hand, intermediate to large diatom species generally played a dominant role in terms of biomass in diatom community. The results suggest that the size of the dominant species is a crucial factor in determining the role of diatoms in the ecosystem functioning. Because such size variability can also be observed in other organisms, we need to pay attention to the effect of size structures on biodiversity.

Usage notes

Data_Sugie_and_Suzuki

Figure 2. Species accumulation curves of 6 samples obtained during the KH12-3 cruise. Sample information is provided as follows: sample 1: 5 m, 28°00’ N, 138°00’ E; sample 2: 75 m, 32°19’ N, 133°33’ E; sample 3: 43 m, 33°05’ N, 133°40’ E; sample 4: 75 m, 35°00’ N, 160°00’ E; sample 5: 5 m, 43°31’ N, 160°00’ E; sample 2: 75 m, 15°00’ N, 160°00’ E. Figure 3. Relationships between (a) J′ calculated based on abundance (J′cell) and biomass (J′bio), and (b) 2E calculated based on abundance (2Ecell) and biomass (2Ebio). The dotted lines in (a) and (b) represent the 1:1 line. (c) Boxplot of J′bio/J′cell and 2Ebio/2Ecell. The upper and lower lines of the box represent the 75% and 25% values. The middle line in the box and circle represents the median and average of the ratios. Crosses represent maximum and minimum values. The ratio = 1 (dotted line), has the same meaning as the 1:1 line shown in Fig. 3a and 3b. Figure 4. Rank order of (a) biomass and (b) abundance of diatoms from the North Pacific. (a-1) and (b-1) show the rank order (line, left axis) and corresponding equivalent spherical diameter (ESD: dots, right axis). Histograms (lower panels) represent the ESD distribution depending on the dominancy shown in (a-1) and (b-1); data were assembled (a-2) and (b-2) 10–100%, (a-3) and (b-3) 1–10%, (a-4) and (b-4) 0.1–1%, and (a-5) and (b-5) <0.1% groups.

Location

North Pacific