Indikatoren für die Vitalität von Lumbricus terrestris Populatio- nen - Eine Anwendung von Partial Least Squares Pfadmodellen (PLS-PM) zur Analyse komplexer Zusammenhänge

Information on biodiversity and related population parameters are of key importance for assessing ecosystem services or impacts of management decisions in agriculture. However information on this parameters is often not directly measurable. Indicators are a convenient way to gain information on these variables. Here we present Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM) to develop and evaluate complex indicators for biodiversity and related parameters. As an example we use data on Lumbricus terrestris from 76 plots on Bavarian mixed farms to create complex indicators for population viability, management intensity and site potential and model their causal relations.