Abstract
Spatial autocorrelation correlograms based on Moran's coefficient were constructed for common polychaetes (Goniada emerita, Heteromastus filiformis, Macroclymenella stewartensis, Boccardia spp. and Magelona? dakini)_and bivalves (Nucula hartvigiana, Soletellina siliqua and Tellina liliana) collected from intertidal sandflats of Manukau Harbour (New Zealand) during October, 1987. Patterns of heterogeneity on a scale smaller than inter-sample distance, homogenous density patches (5 to 30 m radius) and gradients in abundance running through sample sites (9 000 m2) were identified. Patterns could be defined even for species with distributions which, based on the variance: mean ratio test, were not significantly different from random. The possible influence on two of the study sites of sediment disturbances generated by feeding rays is discussed. Identification of spatial patterns is considered an important aspect of the design of surveys and manipulative field experiments.
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Communicated by G. F. Humphrey, Sydney
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Thrush, S.F., Hewitt, J.E. & Pridmore, R.D. Patterns in the spatial arrangements of polychaetes and bivalves in intertidal sandflats. Mar. Biol. 102, 529–535 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00438355
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00438355