Page 217 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 2

STS486 Tonio D.B. et al.
4. Discussion and Conclusion
This paper focuses on the multivariate nature of biodiversity and aims to
provide a new methodology for overcoming the issues of the classical
indicators in a functional framework. Specifically, we have proposed a
functional approach to diversity profiles taking into account the constrained
nature of these data. Then, an inferential approach to diversity profile mean
estimator is considered. We emphasize the usefulness of the FDA approach to
overcome some drawbacks typical of an inferential approach for the diversity
profile based on the abundance vector. The main advantage derives from the
fact that the profile is a function, that is, a single variable observed on a sample
unit, rather than a multivariate vector. Moreover, FDA consents an in-deep
evaluation of the profile curves behaviour through the reference domain,
showing different aspects of diversity as the emphasis shifts from rare to
common categories. The final goal of this research is to provide Ecologists,
policymakers, and scholars with additional tools for evaluate biodiversity and
detect areas with high environmental risk.

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