[R-sig-eco] Spatial sampling simulations

[Erika Mudrak]

Hi everyone,

I am trying to investigate how well a certain (quirky) quadrat layout will uncover underlying spatial phenomenon of plant locatons.  I am using the geoR package to generate variograms, but I am noticing some interesting trends that may be artifacts of the sampling design rather than the natural phenomenon.  

I would like to conduct simulations where I generate a known spatial pattern, superimpose the quadrat layout, sample from that, and analyze the resulting variogram.  I see that geoR has a sample.geodata() function, but I don't want to pick random samples, I want to easily determine what my data would look like if I could only see it through the quadrat layout.   Is there any function where I can easily do this?

[I realize that there is a lot of literature about preferred quadrat layouts, but the data was taken before I arrived at school, handed to me, and if I can figure out how to work with it, then I get a prize - a degree!]

Thanks
Erika

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Erika Mudrak
Graduate Student
Department of Botany
University of Wisconsin-Madison
430 Lincoln Dr
Madison WI, 53706
608-265-2191
mudrak at wisc.edu