Spatial Point Pattern Analysis
Over the last decade or so, there has been increasing interest in the study of spatial patterns in ecology. Ecologists study spatial patterns to better understand the processes that may have caused the observed patterns. A particularly important class of spatial data in ecology are “point-pattern data”, given by the coordinates of the ecological objects of interest, which may also include additional properties (so called “marks”).
Thorsten Wiegand has pushed spatial point pattern analysis by authoring a handbook of spatial point pattern analysis in ecology, and by developing the software Programita with several summary functions such as the pair-correlation function, mark correlation functions or multivariate summary functions. Programita contains many standard and non-standard null models that cover most practical applications of point pattern analysis in ecology. Since its launch in January 2014 Programita has been downloaded by more than 2000 scientists from all over the world and used in more than 600 scientific publications.
Selected Publications
- Perea, A.J., Wiegand, T., Bastida, J.M., Pajares-Murgó, M., Cano, D., López-García, Á., Pomarede, L.C., Prieto-Rubio, J., Rey, P.J., Garrido, J.L., Alcántara, J.M. (2025):
Seed dispersal mechanisms modulate Janzen-Connell effects in Mediterranean forests through antagonists and mutualists
Funct. Ecol. 39 (1), 77 - 90 10.1111/1365-2435.14692 - Mao, Z., Wiegand, T., Corrales, A., Fang S., , Hao, Z., Lin, F., Ye, J., Yuan, Z., Wang, X. (2024):
Mycorrhizal types regulate tree spatial associations in temperate forests: ectomycorrhizal trees might favour species coexistence
Ecol. Lett. 27 (10), e70005 10.1111/ele.70005 - Muñoz-Gallego, R., Wiegand, T., Traveset, A., Fedriani, J.M. (2023):
From seed dispersal service to reproductive collapse: density-dependent outcome of a palm–mammal interaction
Oikos 2023 (10), e10002 10.1111/oik.10002 - Salazar Villegas, M.H., Wiegand, T., González-M, R., Rodriguez-Buritica, S., Qasim, M., Csaplovics, E. (2023):
Spatial facilitation and competition regulate tree species assembly in a tropical dry forest
Front. For. Glob. Change 6 , art. 1028515 10.3389/ffgc.2023.1028515 - Perea, A.J., Wiegand, T., Garrido, J.L., Rey, P.J., Alcántara, J.M. (2022):
Spatial phylogenetic and phenotypic patterns reveal ontogenetic shifts in ecological processes of plant community assembly
Oikos 2022 (12), e09260 10.1111/oik.09260 - Perea, A.J., Wiegand, T., Garrido, J.L., Rey, P.J., Alcántara, J.M. (2021):
Legacy effects of seed dispersal mechanisms shape the spatial interaction network of plant species in Mediterranean forests
J. Ecol. 109 (10), 3670 - 3684 10.1111/1365-2745.13744 - Wiegand, T., Wang, X., Anderson-Teixeira, K.-J., Bourg, N.A., Cao, M., Ci, X., Davies, S.J., Hao, Z., Howe, R.W., Kress, W.J., Lian, J., Li, J., Lin, L., Lin, Y., Ma, K., McShea, W., Mi, X., Su, S.-H., Sun, I.-F., Wolf, A., Ye, W., Huth, A. (2021):
Consequences of spatial patterns for coexistence in species-rich plant communities
Nat. Ecol. Evol. 5 (7), 965 - 973 10.1038/s41559-021-01440-0 - Wiegand, T., Uriarte, M., Kraft, N.J.B., Shen, G., Wang, X., He, F. (2017):
Spatially explicit metrics of species diversity, functional diversity, and phylogenetic diversity: Insights into plant community assembly processes
Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 48 , 329 - 351 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316-022936 - Wiegand, T., Grabarnik, P., Stoyan, D. (2016):
Envelope tests for spatial point patterns with and without simulation
Ecosphere 7 (6), e01365 10.1002/ecs2.1365 - Wiegand, T., Moloney, K.A. (2014):
Handbook of spatial point-pattern analysis in ecology
Chapman & Hall / CRDC applied environmental statistics 9
CRC Press / Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, 510 pp.
- May, F., T. Wiegand, S. Lehmann & A. Huth (2016).
Do abundance distributions and species aggregation correctly predict spatial biodiversity patterns in tropical forests?
Global Ecology and Biogeography. in press - Wang, X., T. Wiegand, N.J.B. Kraft, N.G. Swenson, S.J. Davies, Z. Hao, R. Howe, Y. Lin, K. Ma, X. Mi, S-H Su, I-F Sun & A Wolf (2016).
Stochastic dilution effects weaken deterministic effects of niche-based processes on the spatial distribution of large trees in species rich forests.
Ecology. in press.
Abstract - Velázquez, E., I. Martínez, S. Getzin, K.A. Moloney & T. Wiegand (2016).
An evaluation of the state of spatial point pattern analysis in ecology.
Ecography. in press.
Abstract - Wang, X., Wiegand, T., Swenson, N.G., Wolf, A.T., Howe, R.W., Hao, Z., Lin, F., Ye, J., Yuan, Z., (2015):
Mechanisms underlying local functional and phylogenetic beta diversity in two temperate forests
Ecology 96 (4), 1062 - 1073
full text (pdf) - Punchi-Manage, R., Wiegand, T., Wiegand, K., Getzin, S., Huth, A., Gunatilleke, C.V.S., Gunatilleke, I.A.U.N., (2015):
Neighborhood diversity of large trees shows independent species patterns in a mixed dipterocarp forest in Sri Lanka
Ecology 96 (7), 1823 - 1834
full text (pdf) - May, F., Huth, A., Wiegand, T., (2015):
Moving beyond abundance distributions: neutral theory and spatial patterns in a tropical forest
Proc. R. Soc. B-Biol. Sci. 282 (1802), art. 20141657
full text (pdf) - May, F., Huth, A., Wiegand, T., (2015):
Moving beyond abundance distributions: neutral theory and spatial patterns in a tropical forest
Proc. R. Soc. B-Biol. Sci. 282 (1802), art. 20141657
full text (url) - Fedriani, J.M., Wiegand, T., Calvo, G., Suárez-Esteban, A., Jácome, M., Żywiec, M., Delibes, M., (2015):
Unravelling conflicting density- and distance-dependent effects on plant reproduction using a spatially explicit approach
J. Ecol. 103 (5), 1344 - 1353
full text (url) - Getzin, S., Wiegand, K., Wiegand, T., Yizhaq, H., von Hardenberg, J., Meron, E., (2015):
Adopting a spatially explicit perspective to study the mysterious fairy circles of Namibia
Ecography 38 (1), 1 - 11
full text (url) - Getzin, S., Wiegand, T., Hubbell, S.P., (2014):
Stochastically driven adult–recruit associations of tree species on Barro Colorado Island
Proc. R. Soc. B-Biol. Sci. 281 (1790), art. 20140922
full text (url) - Wiegand, T., He, F., Hubbell, S.P., (2013):
A systematic comparison of summary characteristics for quantifying point patterns in ecology
Ecography 36 (1), 92 - 103
full text (url) - Shen, G., Wiegand, T., Mi, X., He, F., (2013):
Quantifying spatial phylogenetic structures of fully stem-mapped plant communities
Methods Ecol. Evol. 4 (12), 1132 - 1141
full text (url) - Wiegand, T., Huth, A., Getzin, S., Wang, X., Hao, Z., Gunatilleke, C.V.S., Gunatilleke, I.A.U.N., (2012):
Testing the independent species' arrangement assertion made by theories of stochastic geometry of biodiversity
Proc. R. Soc. B-Biol. Sci. 279 (1741), 3312 - 3320
full text (url) - More publications