Spatial patterns of trees in natural forests of East‐Central Europe

The analysis of spatial patterns is one of the ways to estimate the role of competition among trees in forest dynam- ics. Three hypotheses concerning distribution patterns in old- growth stands were tested: (1) fine-scale spatial patterns of trees are regular; (2) patterns do not differ significantly from a random distribution, and (3) spatial patterns at larger scales are clumped because of site heterogeneity. Old-growth forest stands in Poland and the Czech Republic were analysed with a modified Ripley K function, using distribution maps of tree stems. Fine-scale spatial patterns (with distances among trees not exceeding 15 m) were usually intermediate between random and regular. Trends towards a regular distribution occurred more often among dead than among live individuals. No significant relationships between tree species were found at smaller scales; however, at larger scales (distances from 15 - 25 m) negative associations between some species were found. This reflects site heterogeneity rather than any direct influence of one tree species upon another.

[1]  Bijan Payandeh.  Spatial pattern of trees in the major forest types of northern Ontario , 1974 .

[2]  B. Ripley.  Tests of 'Randomness' for Spatial Point Patterns , 1979 .

[3]  P. West.  Inter-tree competition and small-scale pattern in monoculture of Eucalyptus obliqua L'Herit , 1984 .

[4]  H. Shugart.  A Theory of Forest Dynamics , 1984 .

[5]  C. Villagrán,et al.  A comparison of spatial patterns of trees in some tropical and temperate forests , 1986 .

[6]  Erkki Tomppo,et al.  Models and methods for analysing spatial patterns of trees. , 1986 .

[7]  J. B. Faliński.  Vegetation Dynamics in Temperate Lowland Primeval Forests , 1986, Geobotany.

[8]  J. Franklin,et al.  Second-Order Neighborhood Analysis of Mapped Point Patterns , 1987 .

[9]  James R. Runkle,et al.  Treefalls Revisited: Gap Dynamics in the Southern Appalachians , 1987 .

[10]  Norman L. Christensen,et al.  Competition and Tree Death , 1987 .

[11]  Stephen L. Rathbun,et al.  The Population Dynamics of a Long-Lived Conifer (Pinus palustris) , 1988, The American Naturalist.

[12]  N. C. Kenkel,et al.  Pattern of Self‐Thinning in Jack Pine: Testing the Random Mortality Hypothesis , 1988 .

[13]  Geoffrey M. Henebry,et al.  Inferring Process from Pattern in Natural CommunitiesCan we understand what we see , 1989 .

[14]  W. D. Hoskins,et al.  Local competition in a naturally established jack pine stand , 1989 .

[15]  D. Lieberman,et al.  Forests are Not Just Swiss Cheese: Canopy Stereogeometry of Non‐Gaps in Tropical Forests , 1989 .

[16]  J. Wiens.  Spatial Scaling in Ecology , 1989 .

[17]  Håkan Hytteborn,et al.  Gap structure, disturbance and regeneration in a primeval Picea abies forest , 1991 .

[18]  C. Skarpe.  Spatial patterns and dynamics of woody vegetation in an arid savanna , 1991 .

[19]  Charles B. Halpern,et al.  The structure and dynamics of Abies magnifica forests in the southern Cascade Range, USA , 1991 .

[20]  A. Penttinen,et al.  Plant colonization of a bare peat surface: population changes and spatial patterns , 1992 .