UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works Title Spatial autocorrelation and red herrings in geographical ecology Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6jg661wx Journal Global Ecology and Biogeography, 12(1) ISSN 0960-7447 Authors Diniz, JAF Bini, L M Hawkins, Bradford A. Publication Date 2003 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Global Ecology & Biogeography (2003) 12, 53–64 RESEARCH PAPER SpatialBlackwell Science, Ltd autocorrelation and red herrings in geographical ecology JOSÉ ALEXANDRE FELIZOLA DINIZ-FILHO*, LUIS MAURICIO BINI* and BRADFORD A. HAWKINS† *Departamento de Biologia Geral, ICB, Universidade Federal de Goiás, CP 131, 74 001–970, Goiânia, GO, Brazil; and †Department of Ecol- ogy and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, U.S.A., E-mail:
[email protected];
[email protected] ABSTRACT Results Bird richness is characterized by a quadratic north– south gradient. Spatial correlograms usually had positive Aim Spatial autocorrelation in ecological data can inflate autocorrelation up to c. 1600 km. Including the environmen- Type I errors in statistical analyses. There has also been a tal variables successively in the OLS model reduced spatial recent claim that spatial autocorrelation generates ‘red autocorrelation in the residuals to non-detectable levels, herrings’, such that virtually all past analyses are flawed. We indicating that the variables explained all spatial structure in consider the origins of this phenomenon, the implications of the data. In principle, if residuals are not autocorrelated then spatial autocorrelation for macro-scale patterns of species OLS is a special case of GLS. However, our comparison diversity and set out a clarification of the statistical problems between OLS and GLS models including all environmental generated by its presence.