Biology – Quantitative Biology – Populations and Evolution
Scientific paper
2011-12-03
Biology
Quantitative Biology
Populations and Evolution
Scientific paper
The Mantel test is routinely used in many areas of biology and environmental sciences to assess the significance of the association between two or more matrices of distances relative to the same pairs of individuals. This test is a valid statistical procedure to test the auto-correlation of a single (possibly multivariate) variable. This includes the widely used test of isolation-by-distance in population genetics. However, we show that contrarily to a widely shared belief, the simple and partial Mantel tests are not valid statistical procedures to assess the significance of the correlation between two variables structured in space. Under a fairly general model, simulations show that the Mantel tests provide an excess of Type I error whose magnitude increases with the intensity of the spatial auto-correlation. The Mantel tests should not be used in case auto-correlation is suspected in both variables compared under the null hypothesis.
Guillot Gilles
Rousset François
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