Spatial Patterns in the Distribution of Tropical Tree Species

Condit, Richard and Ashton, Peter S and Baker, Patrick and Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh and Gunatilleke, Savithri and Gunatilleke, Nimal and Hubbell, Stephen P and Foster, Robin B and Itoh, Akira and LaFrankie, James V and Lee, Hua Seng and Losos, Elizabeth and Manokaran, N and Sukumar, R and Yamakura, Takuo (2000) Spatial Patterns in the Distribution of Tropical Tree Species. In: Science, 288 . pp. 1414-1418.

Preview

PDF sukumar.pdf Download (579kB)

Abstract

Fully mapped tree census plots of large area, 25 to 52 hectares, have now been completed at six different sites in tropical forests, including dry deciduous to wet evergreen forest on two continents. One of the main goals of these plots has been to evaluate spatial patterns in tropical tree populations. Here the degree of aggregation in the distribution of 1768 tree species is examined based on the average density of conspecific trees in circular neighborhoods around each tree. When all individuals larger than 1 centimeter in stem diameter were included, nearly every species was more aggregated than a random distribution. Considering only larger trees (>_ 10 centimeters in diameter), the pattern persisted, with most species being more aggregated than random. Rare species were more aggregated than common species. All six forests were very similar in all the particulars of these results.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Science
Publisher:	American Association for the Advancement of Science
Keywords:	Spatial patterns;Tropical trees;Mathematical Model
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited:	09 Jun 2004
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:12
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/226

Actions (login required)

View Item