BIODIVERSITY INDICATORS - GRAPHICAL TECHNIQUES, SMOOTHING AND SEARCHING FOR WHAT MAKES RELATIONSHIPS WORK

Knowledge of the distribution of biodiversity remains poor. This situa tion might more readily be resolved if the species richness of certain groups of organisms indicated the richness of other, less well known groups. A spatially explicit exploration of the pattern in the predict ive power that one taxon (a potential 'indicator group') might have fo r the diversity of another has been performed previously, In this pape r we respond to three important points that have been raised. First, w e describe an additional graphical technique for visualising spatial a spects of indicator relationships. Second, we examine some of the cons equences of smoothing species richness data on observed indicator rela tionships. Third, we consider some of the factors that may contribute to strong indicator relationships.