TREE SPATIAL PATTERNS IN 3 CONTRASTING PLOTS OF A SOUTHERN INDIAN TROPICAL MOIST EVERGREEN FOREST

In a primary dense moist evergreen forest of southern India, spatial p atterns of trees greater than or equal to 30 cm gbh were investigated from three contrasting 0.4-ha plots that differed in topography and am ount of disturbance due to treefall. Exploratory data analysis is base d on second-order neighbourhood and pair-correlation statistics used t o describe the degree of clustering/regularity in patterns of all tree s, and the degree of attraction/repulsion between young trees and adul ts. Stochastic simulations from the Markov point process models are th en used to fit spatial interaction models. The results show that spati al patterns can be related to particular dynamic processes which depen d on both exogenous and endogenous factors: on steep slopes disturbed by many treefalls, spatial pattern displays large clusters which can b e interpreted as within-gap regeneration stages of various ages, while in areas undisturbed over a long period, interactions between young t rees and adults give rise to spatial patterns consistent with substitu tion dynamic processes implying standing mortality rather than treefal ls. Characterizing forest dynamics through spatial patterns of trees o pens up the possibility of mapping structural units that might be cons idered as elementary functional patches of the forest mosaic.