Abstract
This paper focuses on the often overlooked, but fundamental difference
between (1) proving "forward" the effects of environmental or anthropogenic
impacts on soil nematode populations, and (2) inferring "backward"
the operation of such impacts in the soil from changes in nematode
populations. Numerical simulations are used to illustrate that the
forward detection of effects on nematode populations can be achieved
with a standard sampling design, whereas the backward prediction
of an unknown impact from observations on nematode populations requires
extraordinary effort in order to obtain a reasonable level of accuracy.
It is concluded that in the majority of empirical investigations,
successful bio-indication is confined to the forward mode, i.e.,
to analysing the biological and ecological consequences of known
impacts.
Users
Please
log in to take part in the discussion (add own reviews or comments).