Some Developments in 'Distance Sampling'

Frequency distributions of the distance from a randomly located point to the nearest (or nth nearest) individual plant or animal are described. Results applicable to systematic and contagious (negative binomial) distributions are derived as supplements to the considerable existing literature on randomly distributed individuals. A new 'index of nonrandomness' is suggested, and demonstrated on some previously published data. Efficiency of distance methods relative to plot sampling is considered in terms of number of individuals enumerated.