UNIFORM DISPERSION

CLUMPED DISPERSION
 RANDOM DISPERSION

Based on the graph, it cans be observed that about 4%, 16%, 16%, 20%, 20%, 24% of the sub-quadrants contain 5,
1, 4, 0, 3 and 2 seeds, respectively. From these results, it can be inferred that there is a random distribution of the
species as shown by the high fluctuation rates among the number of individuals. This is consistent with the
definition of a random dispersion wherein the distribution of a species does not follow a specific pattern, that is, all
areas in an environment have an equal chance of being occupied by that species. A random dispersion occurs when a
species lacks strong interactions, either repulsion or attraction, with the same species and when it is independent of
other individuals within a population. In addition to this, the lack of variation of environmental condition and
resources within a habitat may allow this kind of spatial distribution. When a species is dispersed, through the aid of
wind, insect, or soil movement, it is able to survive if the environment where it lands has the appropriate amount of
condition and resources (Russell, 2016). Furthermore, in comparison the uniform and clustered dispersion, random
dispersion occurs most seldom in nature. This is because there is always an interaction among the species of the
same kind and abiotic factors may be limiting in some areas in a habitat. These situations result to a clustered or
uniform dispersion (Health, 2002).

4.) Why do you think the values obtained from the VMR and Greens coefficient of dispersion are indicative of the
specific types of dispersion patterns?

Variance to mass ratio is a normalized measure use to determine the degree of randomness in a habitat. In a uniform
dispersal pattern, the number of species in all the quadrants of a habitat is uniform. This means that there is no
randomness with regards to the distribution of a species, which in turn result to a zero variance, thus the VMR in a
uniform pattern is equal to zero. In a random dispersal pattern, a species is distributed in a habitat in such a way that
no definite pattern is formed. Species occupying a habitat is randomly distributed so no clusters are formed within
the habitat. So, the variance has a close approximation with the mean thus resulting to a VMR equal to 1. In a
clustered dispersal pattern, a large VMR, is expected since the clusters formed by a species may contain different
numbers of that species. That is, some clusters may have low counts whereas others may have extremely high counts
hence, there is a great degree of randomness within a habitat. This results to a variance larger than the mean, so the
computed VMR in a clustered pattern is always greater than one.

The Greens uniform is another normalized measure which determines the

Egative- uniformzed
Positive=clumoed

Close to 0 random

REFERENCES:

Russell, P. 2016. Biology: the Dynamic Science. New York: Cengage Learning.

Health, D. 2002. An Introduction To Experimental Design And Statistics For Biology. Florida:
CRC Press.

2
( s / x )1
G=
( x ) 1

x
x 1

x
x 2

x
x n

2


s=

s2
VMR=
x