A predictive framework indicating significant positive and negative size-distance correlations for tree species.

<p>The two categories of correlations were assumed to differ significantly from those that individual trees were distributed stochastically, and the size and nearest neighbor distance therefore were not correlated. Significant positive correlation between size and nearest neighbor distance would predict a negative interaction (i.e. competition process) on species assemblage (A), and significant negative correlation between size and nearest neighbor distance would predict a positive interaction (i.e. facilitation process) on species assemblage (B).