Spatial patterns of a savanna palm tree Borassus aethiopum and its temporal variability

Abstract

Abstract The spatial distributions and associations of plant species in a stand can provide essential information about their dynamics. However, since tree spatial distribution and association depend on factors that operate at different scales, disentangling the effects of environmental heterogeneity and plant–plant interactions requires the choice of a suitable null model for spatial analysis. We analyzed the spatial distributions of the same savanna palm tree populations that were studied, the underlying hypothesis being that these distributions have changed in 20 years. To remove the effect of large-scale environmental heterogeneity, the inhomogeneous L-function under the heterogeneous Poisson null model was used. We showed: (i) unlike 20 years ago, adults had a regular distribution instead of an aggregated distribution in the grass savanna; (ii) although the spatial distribution of seedlings and juveniles was always aggregated, we observed a decrease in the size of the aggregates (intensities); (iii) except for juveniles, no other stages were associated with nutrient-rich patches, which was also different 20 years ago; (iv) we did not observe any particular difference in structure between two study sites, only that female palm trees were spatially associated with entire-leafed seedlings in the reserve while they were spatially independent in the rural area. Our study supports the hypothesis that the spatial distributions have partially changed, and that the management of spatial heterogeneity has improved and given more precision in the results.