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The Analysis of Class Dispersion Patterns Using Matrix Comparisons
Author(s) -
Harvey L. Edward,
Davis Frank W.,
Gale Nathan
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1940452
Subject(s) - dispersion (optics) , ecology , sample size determination , monte carlo method , matrix (chemical analysis) , tree (set theory) , statistics , sample (material) , mathematics , geography , biology , combinatorics , physics , chemistry , optics , thermodynamics , chromatography
A matrix comparison method is demonstrated for measuring the relative dispersion of different classes of individuals (e.g., species, age classes, life forms) in a sample of plants whose distributions has been mapped. The method employs combinatorial data analysis procedures and a Monte Carlo approach to significance testing; it is particularly suited to the study of subsets of interplant distances in relatively small data sets. As an example, within—site tree dispersion patterns in a Jamaican wet limestone forest are analyzed. Dispersion patterns vary among species, between size classes of the same species, and for the same species in different stands.