Refining spatial neighbourhoods to capture terrain effects
Date
2012-02-10
Authors
Nelson, Trisalyn A
Robertson, Colin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SpringerOpen
Abstract
Introduction: Spatially explicit ecological research has increased substantially in the past 20 years. Most spatial
approaches require the definition of a spatial neighbourhood or the region over which spatial relationships are
modelled or assessed. Spatial neighbourhood definitions impact analysis results, and there are benefits in
considering neighbourhood definitions that better capture ecological processes. The goal of this research is to
present a simple and flexible approach in constraining ecological spatial neighbourhoods using terrain data.
Methods: Using watershed boundaries, we can restrict spatial neighbourhoods from combining populations or
processes that should be separated by terrain effects. We demonstrate the need for ecological constraints by way
of a simulation study and highlight our approach with a case study examining mountain pine beetle
(Dendroctonus ponderosae, Coleoptera; Hopkins) infestation hot spots.
Results: Our results demonstrate how failure to constrain neighbourhoods can lead to errors when the spatial
signals from unrelated populations are mixed. Also, unconstrained spatial neighbourhoods can unintentionally
detect spatial relationships across many scales.
Conclusions: There will be benefits to studies that develop new, ecology-based approaches in defining spatial
neighbourhoods that better illuminate ecological function of phenomena under study.
Description
SpringerOpen
Keywords
spatial weights, spatial analysis, spatial ecology, hot spots, topography
Citation
Nelson and Robertson: Refining spatial neighbourhoods to capture terrain effects. Ecological Processes 2012 1:3