Fractal analysis of seed dispersal and spatial pattern in wild oats

Shirtliffe, S.J. and Kenkel, N.C. and Entz, M.H. (2002) Fractal analysis of seed dispersal and spatial pattern in wild oats. Community Ecology, 3 (1). pp. 101-107. ISSN 1585-8553

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Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between seed dispersal and spatial pattern in a population of wild oats (Avena fatua L.), a common annual weed of arable fields in western Canada. Fractal analysis revealed that wild oats has an aggregated spatial pattern with statistically self-similar properties. Wild oats seed dispersal was successfully modelled using the fractal inverse power law. The estimated fractal dimension of the seed dispersal curve (D = 1.912) is strikingly similar to that of the population's spatial pattern (D =1.881), indicating that the observed spatial pattern is characteristic of the dispersal distribution. This result suggests that the dispersal curve of a given weed species may be used to successfully predict its pattern of invasion.

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