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Recommendations <br />Results of the present study indicate that <br />aquatic ecoregion classification can be <br />obtained using a combination of ordination <br />and cluster analysis. For consistency with <br />the present analyses, it is recommended that <br />principal components extracted from a <br />correlation matrix for environmental <br />variables be subjected to varimax rotation to <br />improve their interpretability. It is <br />recommended that no data transformation or <br />elimination of variables be made. Cluster <br />analyses should use Ward's algorithm <br />(Ward, 1963). Finally, it is suggested that <br />the utility of additional environmental <br />variables such as distance from headwaters, <br />stream width, and stream depth. Other <br />environmental variables such as stream flow <br />and current velocity are subject to periodic <br />fluctuations and may be difficult to relate to <br />species distribution and abundance. <br />In defining faunal regions, presence/absence <br />data is preferred to relative abundance data <br />and there appears to be merit in using <br />7accard dissimilarity coefficients. Faunal <br />regions can be identified using cluster <br />analysis on percent disagreement data and <br />the cluster tree should be constructed using <br />Ward's method. It is recommended that the <br />utility of alternative classifications be <br />investigated, i.e., trophic and reproductive <br />guilds and chironomid subfamilies. <br />It is recommended that data collection be <br />continued. As the number of sites for <br />which chironomid data are available <br />increases, more powerful and definitive <br />statistical analyses will be possible. Also, <br />as the number of sites increases that have all <br />four types of data, more general results will <br />be obtained. At this point, it is impossible <br />to predict how many aquatic ecoregions will <br />exist in New Mexico. From a statistical <br />standpoint, it will be desirable to have about <br />30 sites per aquatic ecoregion. This number <br />of sites per ecoregion would enhance <br />multivariate analyses within ecoregions. <br />It is recommended that additional effort be <br />made to improve two of the categorical <br />environmental variables, i.e., substrate <br />-composition and in-stream vegetation. <br />Analyses would be improved if both of <br />these categorical variables were reordered <br />to reflect an a priori expectation for changes <br />that might occur with elevation. <br />Literature Cited <br />Bailey, R. G. 1994x. Ecoregions of the <br />United States (map). revised edition. <br />Washington, DC, Forest. Service, U. <br />S. Department of Agriculture. Scale <br />1:7,500,000, colored. <br />Bailey, R. G. 1994b. Description of the <br />ecoregions of the United States. <br />second edition. Forest Service, U. <br />S. Department of Agriculture, <br />Miscellaneous Publication No. 1391 <br />(revised). <br />Bailey, R. G., P. E. Avers, T. King, and <br />W. H. McNabb (eds.). 1994. <br />Ecoregions and subregions of the <br />United States (map). Washington, <br />DC, U. S. Geological Survey. Scale <br />1:7,500,000, colored. Accompanied <br />by a supplementary table of map unit <br />descriptions. Compiled and edited <br />by W. McNabb and R. G. Bailey. <br />Bauman, R. W., A. R. Gaufin, and R. F. <br />Surdick. 1977. The stoneflies <br />(Plecoptera) of the Rocky <br />kf <br />,to