Network Analysis of Northern Queensland Tropical Rainforests

Abstract

The graph theory of a 'two-neighbour network' is explained, and its potential advantages for the elucidation of complex ecological systems are outlined. The method is used for the analysis of a difficult set of 146 tropical rain forest sites, defined by the presence or absence of 740 tree species, in the humid tropics of N. Queensland. It is shown that the results greatly clarify a complex ecological problem, and that they are in unexpectedly good agreement with a preexisting intuitive classification.