Spatial analysis of wildlife distribution and disease spread

Abstract

Many of the interactions between organisms depend on the distance or the ease of movement (accessibility) between them which can be based on the concept of the neighbors or of the neighborhoods of given individuals. A number of different statistical approaches have been developed (Fortin and Dale 2005; Perry 1995) to address the definitions of neighbors and neighborhoods in order to implement measures of those characteristics that are most important to the interactions under study. In particular, the numbers of neighbors (however defined) and their distances can be combined into measures of aggregation, dispersion or crowding (Lloyd 1967), which can have clear effects on important demographic processes, such as the spread of disease, beyond the simple effect of distance to the nearest organisms of the same or different kinds.