INCORPORATION OF SPATIAL STRUCTURE INTO THE ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIPSBETWEEN ENVIRONMENT AND MARINE MICROBIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS

During the RV A. Veimer cruise on 16 August 1990, the bacterial produc tion, the bacterial total number and the plate count were estimated at nine sampling stations at four depths along a transect from the Eston ian inshore area to the middle of the Gulf of Finland. To analyze the variability of microbiological parameters, the spatial structure was i ntroduced into the statistical model and combined with the environment al variables. The total explained variation of the bacterial productio n was 74%, of which 62% was represented by the covariation between the environmental variables and the spatial structure. The variation in t he bacterial production data that was explained by the environmental v ariables, independently of the spatial structure, was 9%, and variatio n due to spatial structure without environmental variables equaled 12% . The patterns of distribution of the bacterial total number and the p late count were related only to the spatial structure (explained varia tion 30% and 27%, respectively).