Spatial relationship between congeners
Although the three Myrcia species occur in similar environments
in the plot, we found no positive associations indicating habitat
filtering to the same favourable patches, or negative associations as
evidence of interspecific competition. The different size classes of the
three species studied were, in most cases, spatially independent, i.e.
the observed g 12(r ) fell within the
simulation envelopes. The only exception was medium trees of M.
multiflora and M. racemosa , which were spatially associated
(Appendix S3). This association was explained by a shared habitat
association of the two congener species, asg 12(r ) fell within the simulation
envelopes when we used the parametric intensity functionλh (x, y ) to parameterize the pattern
reconstruction (Fig. 2).
We also found no evidence of interspecific competition in relation to
size distribution of the species. The sizes of trees were in most cases
not influenced by the presence of nearby congeners of the same size
class, as indicated by results of the independent marking null model.
The only exception was medium-sized trees of M. racemosa , which
showed smaller DSH near individuals of M. brasiliensis(< 6 m) and of M. multiflora (< 13 m).
However, this effect was caused by systematic size differences caused by
harsh environmental conditions, as the observedκm 1.(r ) fell within the
simulation envelopes of the local random marking null model (Fig. 3).