The MacKinnon Lists Technique: an efficient new method for rapidly assessing biodiversity and species abundance ranks in the marine environment

Bach, L. L. , Bailey, D. M. , Harvey, E. S. and MacLeod, R. (2020) The MacKinnon Lists Technique: an efficient new method for rapidly assessing biodiversity and species abundance ranks in the marine environment. PLoS ONE, 15(4), e0231820. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231820) (PMID:32320414) (PMCID:PMC7176086)

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Abstract

Widespread and ever-increasing anthropogenic impacts in the marine environment are driving a need to develop more efficient survey methods for monitoring changes in marine biodiversity. There is a particular urgent need for survey methods that could more rapidly and effectively detect change in species richness, abundance and community composition. Here, test the suitability of the Mackinnon Lists Technique for use in the marine environment by testing its effectiveness for rapid assessment of fish communities. The MacKinnon Lists Technique is a time-efficient and cost-effective sampling method developed for studying avian tropical biodiversity, in which several list samples of species can be collected from a single survey. Using the well-established MaxN approach on data from deployments of a Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems for comparison, we tested the suitability of the MacKinnon Lists Technique for use in marine environments by analysing tropical reef fish communities. Using both methods for each data set, differences in community composition between depths and levels of protection were assessed. Both methods were comparable for diversity and evenness indices with similar ranks for species. Multivariate analysis showed that the MacKinnon Lists Technique and MaxN detected similar differences in community composition at different depths and protection status. However, the MacKinnon Lists Technique detected significant differences between factors when fewer videos (representing reduced survey effort) were used. We conclude that the MacKinnon Lists Technique is at least as effective as the widely used MaxN method for detecting differences between communities in the marine environment and suggest can do so with lower survey effort. The MacKinnon Lists Technique has the potential to be widely used as an effective new tool for rapid conservation monitoring in marine ecosystems

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:MacLeod, Dr Ross and Bailey, Dr David and Bach, Dr Lydia
Creator Roles:
Bach, L.Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Bailey, D.Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
MacLeod, R.Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Authors: Bach, L. L., Bailey, D. M., Harvey, E. S., and MacLeod, R.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Journal Name:PLoS ONE
Publisher:Public Library of Science
ISSN:1932-6203
ISSN (Online):1932-6203
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2020 Bach et al.
First Published:First published in PLoS ONE 15(4):e0231820
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
304186Sundarbans fisheries: a model system for the application of landscape ecology and social science approaches to managementDavid BaileyNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)NE/S008233/1Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine