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Updated: Mar 1, 2026

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations
Published on: October 29, 2016
GENE DISPERSAL AND SPATIAL GENETIC STRUCTURE
Bryan K Epperson1, Tian-Quan Li1
1Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824.
Abstract:
Spatial autocorrelation statistics have been studied in theoretical population genetic models and widely used in experimental studies of spatial structure in many plant and animal populations. However, the statistical properties of spatial autocorrelation statistics have remained uncharacterized. Little is known about how values of spatial autocorrelation statistics in population samples depend on the level of dispersal and scheme of sampling. In this paper, we characterize the statistical properties of join-count spatial autocorrelation statistics for population genetic surveys under various conditions of dispersal and sampling. The results indicate generally high statistical power. These results can provide a method to estimate gene dispersal based on standing spatial patterns of genetic variation observed within populations.
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