Testing for Shifts in the Vertical Distribution of Plankton Using a Robust Kolmogorov-Smirnov Like Statistic
Published in Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics, 1998
Ecological communities often occur along important physical gradients such as altitude, moisture, and light. The two sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic can be used to test for equality of two population abundance profiles along a gradient. Standard Monte Carlo methods demonstrate the well known fact that this procedure is highly sensitive to the presence of extra-multinomial variation–that is, local population patchiness. However, the distribution of a scaled version of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test statistic is shown to be insensitive to large departures from the simple random sampling assumption. The procedure was developed to investigate day-night shifts in the vertical distribution of zooplankton.
Recommended citation: Smith, W., Beet, A. R. and Solow, A. R. (1998). Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics "3(4), p421-429.".
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