The spatial ecology of an endemic desert shrub

Using spatial patterns to infer biotic and abiotic processes underlying plant population dynamics is an important technique in contemporary ecology, with particular utility when investigating and shrub population dynamics, for which experimental and observational methodologies are rarely feasible. Using a novel one-class classification technique, the locations of over 17,000 Spartocytisus supranubius individuals were mapped from aerial imagery generating a spatially extensive (162 ha), yet accurate, dataset. The recent rapid increase in studies using pattern-process inference has not been accompanied by a rigorous assessment of the behaviour of these techniques, nor an appraisal of their utility in addressing ecological research questions. The first part of the thesis addresses these concerns, investigating whether current methodologies are adequate to test hypotheses concerning spatial interactions. A literature review reveals a preponderance of studies of small, little-replicated plots. The results of the research raise concerns about the utility of spatial point pattern analyses as currently applied in the literature. To avoid inaccurate description of fine-scale spatial structures it is recommended that researchers increase plot replication. Furthermore, studies of spatial structure and population dynamics should account for spatial environmental gradients, whatever plot size is used. The second part of the thesis presents a rigorous investigation, incorporating a priori inference and the application of fine-scale spatial statistical and modelling techniques, of the biotic and abiotic mechanisms underlying the spatial structure and population dynamics of S. supranubius, a leguminous shrub species endemic to the Canary Islands. The spatial structure of S. supranubius populations is consistent with the operation of clonal reproduction and intra-specific competition. However, the results indicate that spatial environmental heterogeneity (from small to broad scales), in particular topography, can interact with biotic processes to generate quantitatively different S. Supranubius patterns in different locations. Future research into the spatial and temporal dynamics of interactions between abiotic and biotic processes is recommended.