Comparing the severity of disturbance: a metaanalysis of marine macrobenthic community data

A multivariate method of comparing the severity of disturbance to subtidal macrobenthic communities on a common scale is described. Data on species abundances and biomasses from a variety of stations on the NE Atlantic shelf at which the pollution/disturbance status is known have been aggregated to phylum level and the abundance and biomass data merged using an allometric equation to form a 'production' matrix. An ordination (non-metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling, MDS) of all these data, combined in a single meta-analysis, produces a configuration with disturbance as its major axis. These 50 samples can be used as a training data-set against which the status of communities from new studies can be assessed.