Social media: a guide for researchers

This guide has been produced by the International Centre for Guidance Studies, and aims to provide the information needed to make an informed decision about using social media and select from the vast range of tools that are available. One of the most important things that researchers do is to find, use and disseminate information, and social media offers a range of tools which can facilitate this. The guide discusses the use of social media for research and academic purposes and will not be examining the many other uses that social media is put to across society. Social media can change the way in which you undertake research, and can also open up new forms of communication and dissemination. It has the power to enable researchers to engage in a wide range of dissemination in a highly efficient way.Research Information Networ

One Step forward: Benthic Pelagic Coupling and Indicators for Environmental Status

<div><p>A large data set from the Eastern Mediterranean was analyzed to explore the relationship between seawater column variables and benthic community status. Our results showed a strong quantitative link between the seawater column variables (Chlorophyll <i>a</i> and Eutrophication Index) and various indicators describing benthic diversity and community composition. The percentage of benthic opportunistic species increased significantly in the stations with high trophic status of the seawater column and so did the strength of the coupling between values of seawater column and benthic indicators. The Eutrophication Index threshold level of 0.85, separating the “Bad and Poor” from “Moderate to High” conditions could serve as an acceptable critical value above which there is a readily observable change in benthic community composition.</p></div

List of variables used in the present study.

<p>Chl-<i>a</i>, chlorophyll <i>a</i>; EI, Eutrophic Index; DO, dissolved oxygen; TOC, total organic carbon; Eh, redox potential; S, number of species; ES(10), expected number of species for 10 individuals; BQI, Benthic Quality Index; BQI-Family, Benthic Quality Index–Family; <i>H’</i>, Shannon Diversity Index; BENTIX, Benthic Index; M-AMBI, Multivariate AZTI Marine Biotic Index.</p

Results of Spearman correlation analysis between water column and benthic indices for two groups of stations based on the Ecological Status of the benthic indicators, i.e. “acceptable” (“High” or “Good”) and “unacceptable” (“Bad”, “Poor” or “Moderate”).

<p>* p < 0.05,</p><p>** p < 0.001,</p><p>ns = non significant,</p><p>Chl-<i>a</i>, chlorophyll <i>a</i>; EI, Eutrophic Index; BQI-Family, Benthic Quality Index–Family; BENTIX, Benthic Index.</p

Spearman rank correlation between biological and geochemical variables and/or indices.

<p>* p < 0.05,</p><p>** p < 0.001,</p><p>ns = non significant,</p><p>Chl-<i>a</i>, chlorophyll <i>a</i>; EI, Eutrophic Index; DO, dissolved oxygen; TOC, total organic carbon; Eh, redox potential; S, number of species; ES(10), expected number of species for 10 individuals; BQI, Benthic Quality Index; BQI-Family, Benthic Quality Index–Family; <i>H’</i>, Shannon Diversity Index; BENTIX, Benthic Index; M-AMBI, Multivariate AZTI Marine Biotic Index.</p

Results of ANOSIM test of the benthic community data.

<p>**: p < 0.01,</p><p>*: p < 0.05,</p><p>ns = non significant.</p><p>Stations were grouped after the status of the seawater column based on the Eutrophic Index and Chl-<i>a</i>.</p

Non-metric multi dimensional scaling (nMDS) plot of macrobenthic data but with stations labeled after the Ecological Status defined by means of the Eutrophic Index in the overlaying water column.

<p>Non-metric multi dimensional scaling (nMDS) plot of macrobenthic data but with stations labeled after the Ecological Status defined by means of the Eutrophic Index in the overlaying water column.</p

Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) biplot with species and environmental values.

<p>Triangle represents species with ES50_0.05 of 1–10, circle 10–20, square 20–30. Dark and gray arrows represent sediment and water column variables.</p

Canonical Correspondence Analysis biplot with stations and environmental variables.

<p>Stations are labeled after the Ecological Status defined by means of the Benthic Quality Index—Family index: Symbols indicate Ecological Status: triangle, Bad; circle, Poor; square, Moderate; diamond, Good.</p

Number of sampling stations in each Ecological Status category according to four seawater column and benthic indices.

<p>Chl-<i>a</i>, chlorophyll <i>a</i>; EI, Eutrophic Index; BQI-Family, Benthic Quality Index—Family; BENTIX, Benthic Index.</p