Lab 9 - Spatial analysis: Trend surface analysis and PCNM

Spatial structure in ecological communities is increasingly recognized as being important for the understanding of the processes driving communities. In ecological communities, spatial patterns are either driven by environmental factors or biotic processes. Thus to adequately understand ecological communities it is important to identify the spatial structures and then relate these patterns to underlying processes. Different ecological processes can occur at different spatial scale (fine vs broad scales). It is thus important to detect and quantify spatial patterns over a wide range of scales.