Abstract
Vegetation is a fractal because it exhibits variation over a continuum of scales. The spatial structure of sandrim, bryophyte, pocosin, suburban lawn, forest tree, and forest understory communities was analyzed with a combination of ordination and geostatistical methods. The results either suggest appropriate quadrat sizes and spacings for vegetation research, or they reveal that a sampling design compatible with classical statistics is impossible. The fractal dimensions obtained from these analyses are generally close to 2, implying weak spatial dependence. The fractal dimension is not a constant function of scale, implying that patterns of spatial variation at one scale cannot be extrapolated to other scales.
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Palmer, M.W. Fractal geometry: a tool for describing spatial patterns of plant communities. Vegetatio 75, 91–102 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044631
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044631