Fractal analysis of seed dispersal and spatial pattern in wild oats

This study investigates the relationship between seed dispersal and spatial pattern in a population of wild oats (Avena fatua L.), a common annual weed of arable fields in western Canada. Fractal analysis revealed that wild oats has an aggregated spatial pattern with statistically self-similar properties. Wild oats seed dispersal was successfully modelled using the fractal inverse power law. The estimated fractal dimension of the seed dispersal curve (D = 1.912) is strikingly similar to that of the population's spatial pattern (D =1.881), indicating that the observed spatial pattern is characteristic of the dispersal distribution. This result suggests that the dispersal curve of a given weed species may be used to successfully predict its pattern of invasion