Testing for life historical changes in spatial patterns of four tropical tree species.

For 3 of the species, the spatial models which fit the adults were more uniform than the models which fit the juveniles. The adults of these species were significantly more uniformly distributed than expected from the random mortality of their extant juveniles. The 4th species had adults with a similar distribution to randomly thinned extant juveniles. Post-germination survival leads toward a uniform distribution. During the lifespan of 3 of the species, repulsion occurs between individuals. At small scales, clumping, when present, may be more the result of patchy dispersal of seeds or seedling germination than the patchy survival of germinated individuals.-from Authors