Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:11:46.606Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Another look at confidence limits for species proportions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Martin A. Buzas*
Affiliation:
Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560

Extract

In paleontological investigations the number of individuals of a particular species, ni, is often expressed as a proportion of the total number of individuals, ∑i=1S ni = n, for all, S, species. This proportion, p = ni/n expressed in percent, is referred to by various authors as percent species, relative abundance, percentage abundance, species frequency, fractional abundance, and so on. Naturally, researchers are interested in the confidence limits that can be placed on these estimates, and in the number of individuals required to obtain them. The binomial distribution was used by Dryden (1931), Dennison and Hay (1967), Wright and Hay (1971), and Patterson and Fishbein (1989) for this purpose.

Type
Paleontological Notes
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Buzas, M. A. 1968. On the spatial distribution of foraminifera. Contributions from the Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research, 19:111.Google Scholar
Buzas, M. A., and Gibson, T. G. 1990. Spatial distribution of Miocene foraminifera at Calvert Cliffs, Maryland. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, 68:135.Google Scholar
Cochran, W. G. 1963. Sampling Techniques. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 413 p.Google Scholar
Dennison, J. M., and Hay, W. W. 1967. Estimating the needed sampling area for subaquatic ecologic studies. Journal of Paleontology, 41:706708.Google Scholar
Dryden, A. L. 1931. Accuracy in percentage representations of heavy mineral frequency. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 17:233238.Google Scholar
Patterson, R. T., and Fishbein, E. 1989. Re-examination of the statistical methods used to determine the number of point counts needed for micropaleontological quantitative research. Journal of Paleontology, 63:245248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phleger, F. B. 1960. Ecology and Distribution of Recent Foraminifera. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 297 p.Google Scholar
Wright, R. C., and Hay, W. W. 1971. The abundance and distribution of foraminifers in a back-reef environment, Mollasses Reef, Florida, p. 121174. In Jones, J. I. and Bock, W. D. (eds.), A Symposium of Recent South Florida Foraminifera. Miami Geological Society Memoir 1.Google Scholar