The spatial pattern of trees affects a large number of physiological and ecological processes in a forest, including competition, distribution, size, growth and mortality of the species. Methods based on the Ripley's K function have been frequently used to characterize the spatial configuration of a forest. In this article we advocate to use methods that are based on areas of the Dirichlet's mosaic (function D) to describe the spatial distribution of trees. Due to the importance of Xylopia brasiliensis (Pindaíba) in the structure and dynamics of Semideciduous montana forests, this study assessed the K and D functions to describe the spatial distribution of this specie. Results showed that the estimators of the K and D functions, combined with Monte Carlo simulations, led to rejection of the null hypothessis of completely spatial randomness (p < 0,10 ) of the Xylopia brasiliensis in favor of the presence of clustering of the specie within the forest fragment.
Management; Monte Carlo Method; Voronoi's Mosaic
