Spatial Pattern Analysis
- LAST REVIEWED: 31 March 2016
- LAST MODIFIED: 31 March 2016
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199830060-0144
- LAST REVIEWED: 31 March 2016
- LAST MODIFIED: 31 March 2016
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199830060-0144
Introduction
When one looks around the world, spatial pattern appears to be ubiquitous; little appears to be random. The analysis of spatial pattern has become a fundamental part of science and a major tool of geographical and ecological analysis; its popularity has rapidly accelerated as computational resources for conducting spatial analysis have become widely available. Broadly speaking, spatial pattern analysis is focused on (1) describing the observed pattern of data in space, (2) testing whether the observed pattern differs from an expected null model (such as Complete Spatial Randomness), and (3) fitting observed distributions to theoretical models for the sake of prediction or significance testing. Recognition of spatial pattern is extremely important for the statistical analysis of ecological data because most statistical tests assume independence of data observations: this may not be a reliable assumption if the data are spatially structured. More generally, basic description of spatial pattern can provide important clues about underlying ecological and evolutionary processes, which can then be further vetted via additional hypothesis testing and/or modeling.
General Overview
Methods for analyzing spatial pattern have been developed independently in a wide variety of disciplines. Studies in ecology and statistical geography traditionally focused on the description of spatial pattern and on testing whether observed patterns are statistically significant. Plant ecologists, in particular, made a large contribution of methods based on the analysis of Point Patterns, as well as many methods for Transect and Surface Analysis. The landmark monograph Cliff and Ord 1973 detailed a suite of methods to test for Spatial Autocorrelation that were quickly assimilated into the ecological sciences. Geologists focused on interpolation, fitting empirical data to theoretical models to estimate variables at unsampled locations. Despite differing objectives, the methods used to measure spatial structure show remarkable convergence across disciplines. Liebhold and Gurevitch 2002 describes an effort in ecology to compare, contrast, and synthesize these various approaches to spatial pattern analysis into a single paradigm, and integration of these disciplines has continued to advance spatial analysis in ecology. For ecologists new to spatial analytics, the review paper Fortin, et al. 2002 provides a brief but thorough overview of the basic concepts and methods relevant to ecological studies.
Cliff, Andrew D., and J. Keith Ord. 1973. Spatial autocorrelation. London: Pion.
This monograph ushered in a new age of statistical geography by thoroughly describing a set of methods (i.e., join count analysis, Moran’s I, and Geary’s c) for measuring and testing for spatial autocorrelation between variate values of geographic units and regression residuals.
Fortin, Marie-Josée, Mark R. T. Dale, and Jay ver Hoef. 2002. Spatial analysis in ecology. In Encylopedia of enviromatics. Edited by Abdel H. El-Shaarawi and Walter W. Piegorsch, 2051–2058. Chichester, UK: John Wiley.
Surveys key concepts and popular methods of spatial pattern analysis for ecologists.
Liebhold, Andrew M., and Jessica Gurevitch. 2002. Integrating the statistical analysis of spatial data in ecology. Ecography 25:553–557.
DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0587.2002.250505.x
Describes the interdisciplinary attempt to bridge the disparate methods of spatial pattern analysis found in ecology, geography, and geology; five companion papers are introduced that delve into the integration in more detail.
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Article
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- Adaptive Radiation
- Agroecology
- Allelopathy
- Allocation of Reproductive Resources in Plants
- Animals, Functional Morphology of
- Animals, Reproductive Allocation in
- Animals, Thermoregulation in
- Antarctic Environments and Ecology
- Anthropocentrism
- Applied Ecology
- Approaches and Issues in Historical Ecology
- Aquatic Conservation
- Aquatic Nutrient Cycling
- Archaea, Ecology of
- Assembly Models
- Autecology
- Bacterial Diversity in Freshwater
- Benthic Ecology
- Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning
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- Biofuels
- Biogeochemistry
- Biological Chaos and Complex Dynamics
- Biological Rhythms
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- Biome, Savanna
- Biome, Tundra
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- Biomes, East Asian
- Biomes, Mountain
- Biomes, North American
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- Biophilia
- Braun, E. Lucy
- Bryophyte Ecology
- Butterfly Ecology
- Carson, Rachel
- Chemical Ecology
- Classification Analysis
- Coastal Dune Habitats
- Coevolution
- Communicating Ecology
- Communities and Ecosystems, Indirect Effects in
- Communities, Top-Down and Bottom-Up Regulation of
- Community Concept, The
- Community Ecology
- Community Genetics
- Community Phenology
- Competition and Coexistence in Animal Communities
- Competition in Plant Communities
- Complexity Theory
- Conservation Biology
- Conservation Genetics
- Coral Reefs
- Darwin, Charles
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- Decomposition
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- Dendroecology
- Disease Ecology
- Dispersal
- Drought as a Disturbance in Forests
- Early Explorers, The
- Earth’s Climate, The
- Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics
- Ecological Dynamics in Fragmented Landscapes
- Ecological Education
- Ecological Engineering
- Ecological Forecasting
- Ecological Informatics
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- Ecology, Introductory Sources in
- Ecology, Microbial (Community)
- Ecology of Emerging Zoonotic Viruses
- Ecology of the Atlantic Forest
- Ecology, Stochastic Processes in
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- Ecosystem Engineers
- Ecosystem Multifunctionality
- Ecosystem Services
- Ecosystem Services, Conservation of
- Ecotourism
- Elton, Charles
- Endophytes, Fungal
- Energy Flow
- Environmental Anthropology
- Environmental Justice
- Environments, Extreme
- Ethics, Ecological
- European Natural History Tradition
- Evolutionarily Stable Strategies
- Facilitation and the Organization of Communities
- Fern and Lycophyte Ecology
- Fire Ecology
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- Flood Ecology
- Food Webs
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- Forests, Temperate Coniferous
- Forests, Temperate Deciduous
- Freshwater Invertebrate Ecology
- Genetic Considerations in Plant Ecological Restoration
- Genomics, Ecological
- Geoecology
- Geographic Range
- Gleason, Henry
- Grazer Ecology
- Greig-Smith, Peter
- Gymnosperm Ecology
- Habitat Selection
- Harper, John L.
- Harvesting Alternative Water Resources (US West)
- Heavy Metal Tolerance
- Heterogeneity
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- Host-Parasitoid Interactions
- Human Ecology
- Human Ecology of the Andes
- Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence
- Hutchinson, G. Evelyn
- Indigenous Ecologies
- Industrial Ecology
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- Invasive Species
- Island Biogeography Theory
- Island Biology
- Keystone Species
- Kin Selection
- Landscape Dynamics
- Landscape Ecology
- Laws, Ecological
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- Leopold, Aldo
- Lichen Ecology
- Life History
- Limnology
- Literature, Ecology and
- MacArthur, Robert H.
- Mangrove Zone Ecology
- Marine Fisheries Management
- Marine Subsidies
- Mass Effects
- Mathematical Ecology
- Mating Systems
- Maximum Sustainable Yield
- Metabolic Scaling Theory
- Metacommunity Dynamics
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- Mimicry
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- Mutualisms and Symbioses
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- Natural History Tradition, The
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- Niches
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- Ocean Sprawl
- Oceanography, Microbial
- Odum, Eugene and Howard
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- Ordination Analysis
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- Paleolimnology
- Parental Care, Evolution of
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- Patch Dynamics
- Patrick, Ruth
- Peatlands
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- Phenotypic Selection
- Philosophy, Ecological
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- Physics, Ecology and
- Physiological Ecology of Nutrient Acquisition in Animals
- Physiological Ecology of Photosynthesis
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- Physiological Ecology of Water Balance in Terrestrial Plan...
- Plant Blindness
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- Plant-Insect Interactions
- Polar Regions
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- Predation and Community Organization
- Predation, Sublethal
- Predator-Prey Interactions
- Radioecology
- Reductionism Versus Holism
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- Restoration Ecology
- Rewilding
- Ricketts, Edward Flanders Robb
- Sclerochronology
- Secondary Production
- Seed Ecology
- Senescence
- Serpentine Soils
- Shelford, Victor
- Simulation Modeling
- Socioecology
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- Spatial Scale and Biodiversity
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- Species Extinctions
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- Species-Area Relationships
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- Stoichiometry, Ecological
- Stream Ecology
- Succession
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- Systematic Conservation Planning
- Systems Ecology
- Tansley, Sir Arthur
- Terrestrial Nitrogen Cycle
- Terrestrial Resource Limitation
- Territoriality
- Theory and Practice of Biological Control
- Thermal Ecology of Animals
- Tragedy of the Commons
- Transient Dynamics
- Trophic Levels
- Tropical Humid Forest Biome
- Urban Ecology
- Urban Forest Ecology
- Vegetation Classification
- Vegetation Dynamics, Remote Sensing of
- Vegetation Mapping
- Vicariance Biogeography
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- Wetland Ecology
- Whittaker, Robert H.
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