A relationship between plant density and the probability density function o
f the squared point-to-plant distance is found when a design-based approach
is considered. The estimation of the probability density function (and con
sequently of plant density) is performed using a boundary kernel estimator.
Accordingly, by means of a simulation study, the performance of the propos
ed estimator is evaluated with respect to some existing density estimators
assuming some patterns of plant populations. Finally, an example from field
data is considered.