Bell G, Lechowicz M J, Appenzeller A, Chandler M, DeBlois E, Jackson L, Mackenzie B, Preziosi R, Schallenberg M, Tinker N
Biology Department, McGill University, 1205 Avenue Docteur Penfield, H3A 1B1, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Oecologia. 1993 Oct;96(1):114-121. doi: 10.1007/BF00318038.
There is substantial environmental variance at small spatial scales (1 m or less) in both natural and disturbed environments. We have investigated the spatial structure of physical variables at larger scales (up to 10 m). We analysed surveys of edaphic properties of Wisconsin forest soils, of the water chemistry of lakes in Ontario and Labrador, and of temperature and precipitation in northeastern North America. We found no clear indication that the variance among sites approaches some maximal value as the distance between them increases. We suggest instead that the variance of the physical environment tends to increase continually with distance. The slope of the log-log regression of variance on distance provides a means of comparing the heterogeneity of different environments with respect to a given factor, or of comparing different factors within a given environment. This slope provides a useful measure of environmental structure that can be related to the biodiversity or plasticity of native organisms.
在自然环境和受干扰环境中，小空间尺度（1米或更小）上都存在显著的环境差异。我们研究了较大尺度（达10米）上物理变量的空间结构。我们分析了威斯康星州森林土壤的土壤性质调查、安大略省和拉布拉多省湖泊的水化学调查以及北美东北部的温度和降水调查。我们没有发现明确迹象表明，随着站点间距离增加，站点间的差异接近某个最大值。相反，我们认为物理环境的差异倾向于随距离持续增加。方差对距离的对数-对数回归斜率提供了一种方法，可用于比较不同环境在给定因素方面的异质性，或比较给定环境内的不同因素。该斜率提供了一种有用的环境结构度量，可与本地生物的生物多样性或可塑性相关联。
