Multivariate analysis of the biogeography of the protozoan genus Nebela in southern temperate and Antarctic zones.

Techniques of multivariate data analysis are applied to the data set of Smith and Wilkinson on the distribution of the protozoan testate amoebae genus Nebela in the southern temperate and Antarctic zones. The aim was to demonstrate the potential of these techniques in protozoan studies and also to investigate the extent to which the multivariate and previously used simple inspection approaches produced similar results. The results are mainly consistent with the original analysis and suggest a major role for climate (characterized by mean January temperature) in controling species richness. It is suggested that the methods of simple inspection and multivariate analysis are complementary.