Logic, not convention, should dictate methodology: spatial pattern as a case study (original) (raw)

Seedling densities were recorded in large numbers of small quadrats (225,000 in 1998) every two years at a single site in Victoria. Soil analyses were made in a single year. An 'adaptive analysis' approach was used to investigate the processes that generate spatial pattern. The four most abundant species exhibited very different patterns resulting from different processes. One was widespread but its pattern varied considerably from year to year, another appeared to be patterned by competition from the first, a third occupied dense patches that were highly consistent between years, while a fourth occurred sporadically in patches of low density.