Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between seed dispersal and spatial pattern in a population of wild oats (Avena fatua L.), a common annual weed of arable fields in western Canada. Fractal analysis revealed that wild oats has an aggregated spatial pattern with statistically self-similar properties. Wild oats seed dispersal was successfully modelled using the fractal inverse power law. The estimated fractal dimension of the seed dispersal curve (D = 1.912) is strikingly similar to that of the population’s spatial pattern (D = 1.881), indicating that the observed spatial pattern is characteristic of the dispersal distribution. This result suggests that the dispersal curve of a given weed species may be used to successfully predict its pattern of invasion.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Andreasen, C., J.C. Streibig and H. Hass. 1991. Soil properties affecting the distribution of 37 weed species in Danish fields. Weed Res. 31: 181–187.
Appleby, S. 1996. Multifractal characterization of the distribution pattern of the human population. Geogr. Anal. 28: 147–160.
Bergelson, J. 1996. Competition between two weeds. Biosci. 84: 579–584.
Cardina, J., D.H. Sparrow and E. L. McCoy. 1995. Analysis of spatial distribution or common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) in No-Till Soybean (Glycine max). Weed Sci. 43: 258–268.
Clark, J.S. 1998. Why trees migrate so fast: confronting theory with dispersal biology and the paleorecord. Am. Nat. 152: 204–224.
Cousens, R. and M. Mortimer. 1995. Dynamics of Weed Populations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Environment Canada. 1993. Canadian Climate Normals: 1961–1990. Vol. 2. Prairie Provinces. Environment Canada, Ottawa.
Grassberger, P. 1983. On the critical behaviour of the general epidemic process and dynamic percolation. Math. Biosci. 63: 157–162.
Hagen, C.A., N.C. Kenkel, D.J. Walker, R.K. Baydack and C.E. Braun. 2001. Fractal-based spatial analysis of radiotelemetry data. In: J.J. Millspaugh and J.M. Marzluff (eds.), Radio Tracking and Animal Populations. Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 167–187.
Hall, P. 1995. On the effect of measuring a self-similar process. SIAM J. Appl. Math. 55: 800–808.
Harper, J.L. 1977. The Population Biology of Plants. Academic Press, London.
Hastings, H.M. and G. Sugihara. 1993. Fractals: A User’s Guide for the Natural Sciences. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Hentschel, H.G.E. and I. Procaccia. 1983. The infinite number of generalized dimensions of fractals and strange attractors. Physica 8D: 435–444.
Johnson, G.A., D.A. Mortensen and A.R. Martin. 1995. A simulation of herbicide use based on weed spatial distribution. Weed Res. 35: 197–205.
Kenkel, N.C. and A.J. Irwin. 1994. Fractal analysis of dispersal. Abst. Bot. 18: 79–84.
Kot, M., M.A. Lewis and P. van den Driessche. 1996. Dispersal data and the spread of invading organisms. Ecology 77: 2027–2042.
Kropac, Z., T. Havranek and J. Dobry. 1986. Effect of duration and depth of burial on seed survival of Avena fatua in arable soil. Folia Geobot. Phytotax. 21: 249–262.
Lehman, L. and D. Tilman. 1997. Competition in spatial habitats. In: D. Tilman and P. Kareiva (eds.), Spatial Ecology. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, pp. 185–203.
Malik, N and W.H. Vanden Born. 1988. The biology of Canadian weeds. 86. Galium aperine L. and Galium spurium L. Can. J. Plant Sci. 68:481–499.
Mandelbrot, B.B. 1983. The Fractal Geometry of Nature. W.H. Freeman, New York.
Marshall, E.J.P. 1988. Field scale estimates of grass weed populations in arable land. Weed Res. 28: 191–198.
McCanny, S.J. and P.B. Cavers. 1988. Spread of proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) in Ontario, Canada. II. Dispersal by combines. Weed Res. 28:67–72.
Minogue, K. P. 1987. Disease gradients and the spread of disease. In: K.J. Leonard and W. E. Fry (eds.), Plant Disease Epidemiology Vol. 1: Population Dynamics and Management. Mcmillan, New York. pp. 285–310.
Mollison, D. 1986. Modelling biological invasions: chance, explanation, prediction. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 314: 675–693.
Okubo, A. and S.A. Levin. 1989. A theoretical framework for data analysis of wind dispersal of seeds and pollen. Ecology 70: 329–338.
O’Toole, J.J. and P.B. Cavers. 1983. Input to seed banks of proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) in southern Ontario. Can. J. Plant Sci. 63: 1023–1030.
Rényi, A. 1970. Probability Theory. North-Holland, Amsterdam.
Rew, L.J. and G.W. Cussans. 1997. Horizontal movement of seeds following tine and plough cultivation: implications for spatial dynamics of weed infestations. Weed Res. 37: 247–256.
Schroeder, M. 1991. Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws: Minutes from an Infinite Paradise. W.H. Freeman, New York.
Sharma, M.P. and W.H. Vanden Born. 1978. The biology of Canadian weeds. 27. Avena fatua L. Can. J. Plant Sci. 58: 141–157.
Shaw, M.W. 1995. Simulation of population expansion and spatial pattern when individual dispersal distributions do not decline exponentially with distance. Proc. Royal Soc. London Series B 259: 253–248.
Shirtliffe, S.J. 1999. The effect of chaff collection on the combine harvester dispersal of wild oat (Avena fatua L.). Doctorate of Philosophy Dissertation, University of Manitoba.
Shirtliffe, S.J., M.H. Entz and R.D. Van Acker. 2000. The development and seed shatter of Avena fatua. Weed Sci. 48: 555–560.
Thornton, P.K., R.H. Fawcett, J.B. Dent and T.J. Perkins. 1990. Spatial weed distribution and economic thresholds for weed control. Crop Prot. 9: 337–342.
Van der Plank, J.E. 1960. Analysis of epidemics. In: J. G. Horsfall and A.E. Dimond (eds.), Plant Pathology, Vol 3. Academic Press, New York. pp. 229–289.
Wallinga, J. 1995. The role of space in plant population dynamics: annual weeds as an example. Oikos 74: 377–383.
Wiles, L.J., G.W. Olive, A.C. York, H.J. Gold and G.G. Wilkerson. 1992. Spatial distribution of broadleaf weeds in North Carolina soybean (Glycine max) fields. Weed Sci. 40: 554–557.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Shirtliffe, S.J., Kenkel, N.C. & Entz, M.H. Fractal analysis of seed dispersal and spatial pattern in wild oats. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 3, 101–107 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.3.2002.1.12
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.3.2002.1.12