| Abstract: | The local spatial arrangement of the coniferous trees Pinus edulis and Juniperus osteosperma was mapped in two woodland stands and measured in two shrub-dominated stands in the semiarid Piceance Basin of northwest Colorado. In the woodlands, small trees were often clumped, while medium and large trees were either randomly or uniformly dispersed. Significant regressions were obtained between a tree?s basal area or canopy area and the area of its Dirichlet domain (the region closer to it than to any other tree). Both findings from the woodland stands accord with results obtained by other workers in other vegetation. Like earlier workers, we interpret these patterns to indicate density-dependent mortality and density-dependent depression of growth rates among the trees in the woodlands. In contrast, the trees in the shrub-dominated stands are located at random with respect to each other. However, they are strongly associated with shrub cover. Apparently tree seeds arrive in these stands primarily by long-distance dispersal, and the establishment of seedlings is more likely in the shade of shrubs. |
