Experiment 1: an investigation of spatial variation

The experiment concerns the joint pattern of spatial variation common to three plant species belonging to a limestone grassland community in Anglesey, North Wales. The species were Phleum bertolonii DC., Dactylis glomerata L. and Galium verum L. From previous work, the species were known to share the same relatively simple generalized distribution pattern, which was centered on the southwestern extremity of the study area. Furthermore, the direction and extent of the departure of the distribution of each species from the common trend was also known. P. bertolonii was the most circumscribed of the species, being strictly confined to the southwestern corner. G. verum, on the other hand, was the most widespread species, occurring throughout the study area although its maximum representation occurred in the southwest. D. glomerata was less extreme with a distribution intermediate between those of the other species, but resembling that of P. bertolonii more closely than that of G. verum.