Significance testing testate amoeba water table reconstructions
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record. Transfer functions are valuable tools in palaeoecology, but their output may not always be meaningful. A recently-developed statistical test ('randomTF') offers the potenti...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/22185 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.01.030 |
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ftunivexeter:oai:ore.exeter.ac.uk:10871/22185 2024-09-09T19:27:15+00:00 Significance testing testate amoeba water table reconstructions Payne, RJ Babeshko, KV van Bellen, S Blackford, JJ Booth, RK Charman, DJ Ellershaw, MR Gilbert, D Hughes, PDM Jassey, VEJ Lamentowicz, Ł Lamentowicz, M Malysheva, EA Mauquoy, D Mazei, Y Mitchell, EAD Swindles, GT Tsyganov, AN Turner, TE Telford, RJ 2016 http://hdl.handle.net/10871/22185 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.01.030 en eng Elsevier Vol. 138, pp. 131 - 135 doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.01.030 http://hdl.handle.net/10871/22185 0277-3791 Quaternary Science Reviews 2017-02-15 Publisher Policy Testate amoeba Protist Palaeoecology Palaeohydrology Transfer function RandomTF Article 2016 ftunivexeter https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.01.030 2024-07-29T03:24:15Z This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record. Transfer functions are valuable tools in palaeoecology, but their output may not always be meaningful. A recently-developed statistical test ('randomTF') offers the potential to distinguish among reconstructions which are more likely to be useful, and those less so. We applied this test to a large number of reconstructions of peatland water table depth based on testate amoebae. Contrary to our expectations, a substantial majority (25 of 30) of these reconstructions gave non-significant results (P > 0.05). The underlying reasons for this outcome are unclear. We found no significant correlation between randomTF P-value and transfer function performance, the properties of the training set and reconstruction, or measures of transfer function fit. These results give cause for concern but we believe it would be extremely premature to discount the results of non-significant reconstructions. We stress the need for more critical assessment of transfer function output, replication of results and ecologically-informed interpretation of palaeoecological data. Elements of this project were supported by various funding agencies including: grant PSPB-013/2010 through the Swiss Contribution to the enlarged EU; project 017008 through EU FP6 (Millenium); grant 14-14-00891 from the Russian Scientific Fund; grant IE150173 from the Royal Society; NERC doctoral training grant NE/G52398X/1; NERC research grants NE/I022809/1, NE/I022981/1, NE/I022833/1 and NE/I023104/1; a DEL-NI doctoral training grant and the Worldwide Universities Network (project: Arctic Environments, Vulnerabilities and Opportunities). RJP is supported by the Leverhulme Trust through project RPG-2015-162. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic University of Exeter: Open Research Exeter (ORE) Arctic Quaternary Science Reviews 138 131 135 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Exeter: Open Research Exeter (ORE) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivexeter |
language |
English |
topic |
Testate amoeba Protist Palaeoecology Palaeohydrology Transfer function RandomTF |
spellingShingle |
Testate amoeba Protist Palaeoecology Palaeohydrology Transfer function RandomTF Payne, RJ Babeshko, KV van Bellen, S Blackford, JJ Booth, RK Charman, DJ Ellershaw, MR Gilbert, D Hughes, PDM Jassey, VEJ Lamentowicz, Ł Lamentowicz, M Malysheva, EA Mauquoy, D Mazei, Y Mitchell, EAD Swindles, GT Tsyganov, AN Turner, TE Telford, RJ Significance testing testate amoeba water table reconstructions |
topic_facet |
Testate amoeba Protist Palaeoecology Palaeohydrology Transfer function RandomTF |
description |
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record. Transfer functions are valuable tools in palaeoecology, but their output may not always be meaningful. A recently-developed statistical test ('randomTF') offers the potential to distinguish among reconstructions which are more likely to be useful, and those less so. We applied this test to a large number of reconstructions of peatland water table depth based on testate amoebae. Contrary to our expectations, a substantial majority (25 of 30) of these reconstructions gave non-significant results (P > 0.05). The underlying reasons for this outcome are unclear. We found no significant correlation between randomTF P-value and transfer function performance, the properties of the training set and reconstruction, or measures of transfer function fit. These results give cause for concern but we believe it would be extremely premature to discount the results of non-significant reconstructions. We stress the need for more critical assessment of transfer function output, replication of results and ecologically-informed interpretation of palaeoecological data. Elements of this project were supported by various funding agencies including: grant PSPB-013/2010 through the Swiss Contribution to the enlarged EU; project 017008 through EU FP6 (Millenium); grant 14-14-00891 from the Russian Scientific Fund; grant IE150173 from the Royal Society; NERC doctoral training grant NE/G52398X/1; NERC research grants NE/I022809/1, NE/I022981/1, NE/I022833/1 and NE/I023104/1; a DEL-NI doctoral training grant and the Worldwide Universities Network (project: Arctic Environments, Vulnerabilities and Opportunities). RJP is supported by the Leverhulme Trust through project RPG-2015-162. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Payne, RJ Babeshko, KV van Bellen, S Blackford, JJ Booth, RK Charman, DJ Ellershaw, MR Gilbert, D Hughes, PDM Jassey, VEJ Lamentowicz, Ł Lamentowicz, M Malysheva, EA Mauquoy, D Mazei, Y Mitchell, EAD Swindles, GT Tsyganov, AN Turner, TE Telford, RJ |
author_facet |
Payne, RJ Babeshko, KV van Bellen, S Blackford, JJ Booth, RK Charman, DJ Ellershaw, MR Gilbert, D Hughes, PDM Jassey, VEJ Lamentowicz, Ł Lamentowicz, M Malysheva, EA Mauquoy, D Mazei, Y Mitchell, EAD Swindles, GT Tsyganov, AN Turner, TE Telford, RJ |
author_sort |
Payne, RJ |
title |
Significance testing testate amoeba water table reconstructions |
title_short |
Significance testing testate amoeba water table reconstructions |
title_full |
Significance testing testate amoeba water table reconstructions |
title_fullStr |
Significance testing testate amoeba water table reconstructions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Significance testing testate amoeba water table reconstructions |
title_sort |
significance testing testate amoeba water table reconstructions |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10871/22185 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.01.030 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_relation |
Vol. 138, pp. 131 - 135 doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.01.030 http://hdl.handle.net/10871/22185 0277-3791 Quaternary Science Reviews |
op_rights |
2017-02-15 Publisher Policy |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.01.030 |
container_title |
Quaternary Science Reviews |
container_volume |
138 |
container_start_page |
131 |
op_container_end_page |
135 |
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1809896709387452416 |