Understanding
spatial pattern is an important precursor for ecologists to ask questions
about community structure, or predict potential niches for species.
Along with former graduate students Dr.
Qinghua Guo and Dr.
Desheng Liu, we have
been applying and refining existing tools, and developing new spatial
analytical
and
modeling
tools to
use in ecological analysis.
Specifically,
we are using these tools to examine patterns of establishment and
spread of Sudden
Oak Death across scales, and using this information
in modeling risk for the disease. We are also using spatial analysis
to quantify vegetation heterogeneity in restored and natural wetland
sites, as part of a project that maps wetland function
through time.
