Terlizzi, A., Scuderi, D., Fraschetti, S., & Anderson, M. J. (2005). Quantifying effects of pollution on biodiversity: A case study of highly diverse molluscan assemblages in the mediterranean. Marine Biology, 148(2), 293-305. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00227-005-0080-8

This research example was worked on by A. Terlizzi, D. Scuderi, S. Fraschetti, and M. J. Anderson.  Their research paper was titled, “Quantifying effects of pollution on biodiversity: a case study of highly diverse mollusks assemblages in the Mediterranean.”  They wanted to know the potential effects of sewage discharge on spatial patterns of highly diverse mollusks assemblages in a Mediterranean rocky sub-tidal habitat.  They used an experiment with two control sites.  They needed reports from the mollusks.  All three sites were chosen at random.  Scuba divers went down and took samples by scraping organisms off of rocky surfaces.  The mollusks were sorted and put into solution.  The analysis was mostly ordinal and involved a lot of math.  Univariate asymmetrical analyses of variance were used to calculate all of the variables. They put all of their data into bar graphs to show the number of individuals and the variable that was tested.  Their results concluded that there were a higher number of species at the locations that were further away from the sewage pipes.  There was more variability.  This experiment used scuba divers which is extremely helpful.  However, this experiment used destructive techniques that ruined the sites.  This is not the way that scientists should work.  They were all extremely intelligent, but I do not approve on the harm that they caused.