Towards a mathematical model of limestone pavement vegetation. I. Vegetation and microtopography

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Abstract
A model for the determination of the probability of occurrence of a species at a specified point is defined as: P = B0 + B1X1 + B11X12 + B111X13 … + B2X2 + B22X22 + B222X23 ….Limestone pavement was chosen to experiment with such models because of the relatively small number of evidently significant environmental variables. Species frequency data for 60 sites, classified in a block design involving microtopography, are presented. All sites were located in grikes, elongated fissures in the limestone with depths far exceeding their widths. Analyses of variance for 31 species show significant effects of width, depth, and aspect of grikes and of interactions between them, on the frequencies of most species. The matrix of between-species correlation coefficients suggests a continuous range of variation in distribution and presumably environmental response, of the species. Examination of the relationship between microclimatic and topographic variables is required before independent variables for incorporation into the model are selected.

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