A Conditioned Distance Ratio Method for Analyzing Spatial Patterns

Abstract

A new distance-based method is proposed for investigating the pattern in the plane formed by points, which may be assumed to be the positions of centers of trees in a forest stand. For each of several randomly selected origins the distance from the origin to the nearest tree, and the distance of this tree to its nearest neighbor are measured, and their ratio calculated. The values of this ratio which exceed 1/2 are shown to have the property of distinguishing between regular, random and clustered patterns; the values which are less than 1/2 are shown to have the same distribution for such patterns. Several sets of data on tree positions are analyzed.