treespat:an R package for spatial tree diversity analysis

Forest structure is a key element in understanding functionality and resilience of forest ecosystems. Analyses of forest structure and diversity have traditionally employed non-spatial measures, due to the simplicity of such approach. However, spatial structure can provide a deeper understanding of tree patterns, but widespread use of a spatially-explicit approach has been often limited by the complexity of theoretical equations and formulas, and the lack of freely distributed tools to calculate such spatial indices. To fill this gap we created the R package treespat, which allows to calculate some of the most diffuse stand-level spatial diversity indices. The document describes theory, basic definition and example application for using the treespat package.