Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 335 views

    Nearest Neighbour Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Michael Mutale
    Nearest Neighbour Analysis attempts to measure distributions according to whether they are clustered, random or regular. Nearest Neighbour Analysis may be used in sand dune vegetation succession studies to test the hypothesis that 'the stone pine woodland forms the climax community'

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Nearest Neighbour Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Michael Mutale
    335 views3 pages
    Nearest Neighbour Analysis attempts to measure distributions according to whether they are clustered, random or regular. Nearest Neighbour Analysis may be used in sand dune vegetation succession studies to test the hypothesis that 'the stone pine woodland forms the climax community'

    Copyright

    © Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Nearest Neighbour Analysis attempts to measure distributions according to whether they are clustered, random or regular. Nearest Neighbour Analysis may be used in sand dune vegetation succession studies to test the hypothesis that 'the stone pine woodland forms the climax community'

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    335 views3 pages

    Nearest Neighbour Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Michael Mutale
    Nearest Neighbour Analysis attempts to measure distributions according to whether they are clustered, random or regular. Nearest Neighbour Analysis may be used in sand dune vegetation succession studies to test the hypothesis that 'the stone pine woodland forms the climax community'

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    Nearest Neighbour Analysis

    http://www.geographyfieldwork.com/nearest_neighbour_analysis...

    Availability Prices 2006 Prices 2007 Geography | Biology | Ecology | Business Studies
    July 12, 2006 Search

    Nearest Neighbour Analysis


    An example of the search for order in settlement or other patterns in the landscape is the use of a technique known as nearest neighbour analysis. This attempts to measure the distributions according to whether they are clustered, random or regular. Nearest neighbour analysis may be used in sand dune vegetation succession studies to test the hypothesis that 'the stone pine woodland forms the climax community'. Here, tree distribution may be expected to be random, rather than the regular pattern expected if the trees had been deliberately planted as part of a sand stabilisation scheme. The nearest neighbour formula will produce a result between 0 and 2.15, where the following distribution patterns form a continuum:

    The formula used is as follows:

    Key nearest neighbour value mean observed nearest neighbour distance area under study total number of points

    Methodology 1. Select an area of woodland using random numbers, and mark out a 30m X30m (900m) quadrat.This should be sufficient to obtain a minimum number of 30 trees (see minimum sample size below). 2. Measure the distance of each tree within the quadrat to its nearest neighbour as illustrated below:

    1 of 3

    12/07/2006 14:45

    Nearest Neighbour Analysis

    http://www.geographyfieldwork.com/nearest_neighbour_analysis...

    3. Apply the above formula. Example using a 20 x 20m quadrat with 18 trees: Tree No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total Distance to nearest neighbour (m) 4.10 5.75 3.00 3.80 3.58 3.12 2.20 2.20 3.87 2.40 2.40 3.75 4.20 1.83 3.10 0.98 0.98 2.51 53.77 2.99 400m

    2 of 3

    12/07/2006 14:45

    Nearest Neighbour Analysis

    http://www.geographyfieldwork.com/nearest_neighbour_analysis...

    1.27

    This 1.27 Rn value (which becomes 1.32 when reworked with an alternative nearest neighbour formula provided by David Waugh) shows there is a tendency towards a regular pattern of tree spacing.

    However, with fewer than 30 trees, it is difficult to to say with any confidence that the distribution has this regular distribution tendency, and the pattern may have occurred by chance. The Rn value lies within the yellow shaded area on the diagram below and therefore has a random distribution at the 95% probability level. The Rn value must lie outside the shaded area before a particular distribution pattern can be accepted as significant.

    Interpretation of Rn statistic: significant values (after David Waugh, with thanks) Assumptions 1. There has been no new natural pine germination since the planting (if any) of the woodland.

    PAGE UPDATE 20/05/06 Field studies follow the Geographical Association Fieldwork Code of Practice. Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved Barcelona Field Studies Centre S.L.

    3 of 3

    12/07/2006 14:45

    You might also like