Spatial pattern analysis of forest trees based on the vectorial mark

Analysis of spatial patterns to describe the spatial correlation between a tree location and marks (i.e., structural variables), can reveal stand history, population dynamics, competition and symbiosis. However, most studies of spatial patterns have concentrated on tree location and tree sizes rathe...

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Published in:Journal of forestry research Vol. 33; no. 4; pp. 1301 - 1315
Main Authors: Xin, Honglu, Jackson, Toby, Cao, Yujie, Zhang, Huanyuan, Lin, Yi, Shenkin, Alexander
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Singapore Springer Nature Singapore 01.08.2022
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Institute of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems,School of Earth and Space Science,Peking University,Beijing 100871,People's Republic of China
Environmental Change Institute,School of Geography and the Environment,University of Oxford,South Parks Road,Oxford OX13QY,UK%Department of Plant Sciences,University of Cambridge, Downing Street,Cambridge CB23EA,UK%College of Surveying and Geo-Informatics,Tongji University,Shanghai 200092,People's Republic of China%Environmental Change Institute,School of Geography and the Environment,University of Oxford,South Parks Road,Oxford OX13QY,UK%Institute of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems,School of Earth and Space Science,Peking University,Beijing 100871,People's Republic of China%Environmental Change Institute,School of Geography and the Environment,University of Oxford,South Parks Road,Oxford OX13QY,UK
SICCS,Northern Arizona University,Flagstaff,AZ 86001, USA
Subjects:
Airborne lasers
Algorithms
Analysis
Asymmetry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Bivariate analysis
Competition
data collection
Forestry
forests
Life Sciences
Original Paper
Pattern analysis
Population biology
Population dynamics
Spatial analysis
Spatial distribution
Symbiosis
tree height
Trees
Quantitative mark
Spatial pattern
Vectorial mark
Spatial correlation
Summary statistics
ISSN:1007-662X, 1993-0607
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Analysis of spatial patterns to describe the spatial correlation between a tree location and marks (i.e., structural variables), can reveal stand history, population dynamics, competition and symbiosis. However, most studies of spatial patterns have concentrated on tree location and tree sizes rather than on crown asymmetry especially with direct analysis among marks characterizing facilitation and competition among of trees, and thus cannot reveal the cause of the distributions of tree locations and quantitative marks. To explore the spatial correlation among quantitative and vectorial marks and their implication on population dynamics, we extracted vertical and horizontal marks (tree height and crown projection area) characterizing tree size, and a vectorial mark (crown displacement vector characterizing the crown asymmetry) using an airborne laser scanning point cloud obtained from two forest stands in Oxfordshire, UK. Quantitatively and vectorially marked spatial patterns were developed, with corresponding null models established for a significance test. We analyzed eight types of univariate and bivariate spatial patterns, after first proposing four types. The accuracy of the pattern analysis based on an algorithm-segmented point cloud was compared with that of a truly segmented point cloud. The algorithm-segmented point cloud managed to detect 70–86% of patterns correctly. The eight types of spatial patterns analyzed the spatial distribution of trees, the spatial correlation between tree size and facilitated or competitive interactions of sycamore and other species. These four types of univariate patterns jointly showed that, at smaller scales, the trees tend to be clustered, and taller, with larger crowns due to the detected facilitations among trees in the study area. The four types of bivariate patterns found that at smaller scales there are taller trees and more facilitation among sycamore and other species, while crown size is mostly homogeneous across scales. These results indicate that interspecific facilitation and competition mainly affect tree height in the study area. This work further confirms the connection of tree size with individual facilitation and competition, revealing the potential spatial structure that previously was hard to detect.
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ISSN:1007-662X
1993-0607
DOI:10.1007/s11676-021-01417-6