title: Spatial patterns in the distribution of tropical tree species.
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.
authors.affiliation: Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Unit 0948, APO AA 34002-0948, USA. ctfs@tivoli.si.edu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Condit
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ashton
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bunyavejchewin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gunatilleke
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gunatilleke
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hubbell
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: LaFrankie
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Losos
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Manokaran
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sukumar
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamakura
mesh_terms: D002489:Central America; D017753:Ecosystem; D007194:India; D008296:Malaysia; D010176:Panama; D013188:Sri Lanka; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013785:Thailand; D014197:Trees; D014329:Tropical Climate