The spatial aspect of plant interactions in a sand dune plant community was described, tested, modeled, and quantified. By analyzing both pattern and process as spatial phenomena, the mechanics of the sand dune system were studied. Plant interactions, and their impact upon the spatial organization of the sand dune plant community, were quantified through the use of descriptive statistics, experimentation, and cellular automata modeling. Descriptive results showed that plant strategies had a spatial component on the sand dunes. Experimental hypotheses about pattern formation demonstrated that a sand dune plant's response to external conditions, particularly Panicum amarum under conditions of water stress, altered the spatial pattern of biomass and its growth among a stand. Cellular automata model results provided evidence that hypothesized processes of community formation occurred when plants interacted. The spatial mechanisms of sand dune succession and the impact of individual plants upon community organization were quantified.

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