Spatial analysis of vegetation patterns in southern Western Australia: implications for reserve design

Abstract

Spatial analysis of vegetation and soil data collected from 64 sites in southern Western Australia suggests that both soil characteristics and geographic distance between sites are important predictors of the floristic resemblance of sites on a regional scale. These two factors are largely independent, a finding that may reflect recent, rapid speciation in the study area postulated in other studies. Spatial patterns of plant guilds suggest geographic replacement, and contingent exclusion may be an important mechanism maintaining species‐richness. Existing soil and vegetation maps used to delineate reserve boundaries are found to be accurate, although the soil maps include information on vege..