Trees

The tree is painted here as a point pattern as different trees in the forest form a point pattern that we study using point process models.

The world's rainforests are enormously diverse ecosystems, supporting more species than any other ecosystem. While ecologists have observed a decline in biodiversity in many systems and locations, they have not come to an agreement as to what mechanisms support the high levels of diversity found in the rainforests. By analysing the spatial signal in rainforest communities we aim to assess whether suggested mechanisms are likely to maintain the diversity in these systems or not.

We at CREEM study trees using a type of spatial point process models called marked point process models where the height of trees is considered as a mark.