[en] Several methods for analyzing uni- and bivariate point patterns, commonly used in ecology, are reviewed in this work. The refined nearest neighbor method, the Ripley&rsquo;s K function and the SADIE technique were used to analyze simulated and real spatial point patterns. A random pattern, three clumped patterns with radius of 3, 5 and 10 m, and three random patterns with inhibition distances of 2, 4 and 6 m, were simulated to check the efficiency of the methods. Real patterns were measured in two deciduous forests in the Cantabrian lowlands and a coniferous forest in the Cebollera-Urbi&oacute;n Range. All techniques were able to distinguish between random, clumped and regular patterns. Nearest neighbor method and K function displayed inhibition distances in regular patterns, but K function alone detected the clump size. Juveniles showed clumped spatial patterns, while adults displayed a random distribution. For bivariate analyses, some simulated patterns displayed significant evidence of spatial attraction or repulsion. Real patterns indicated spatial repulsion between juveniles and adults, and attraction between differently sized juveniles. The results were interpreted according to the available information on forest ecology. The use of appropriate methods for edge effect correction, and null models alternative to the complete spatial randomness, is also discussed.

[es] En este trabajo se revisan algunos m&eacute;todos modernos de an&aacute;lisis uni- y bivariante de los patrones de puntos utilizados habitualmente en ecolog&iacute;a. Se aplicaron el an&aacute;lisis refinado de la distancia al vecino m&aacute;s pr&oacute;ximo, la funci&oacute;n K de Ripley y la t&eacute;cnica SADIE para analizar patrones de puntos simulados y reales. Un patr&oacute;n aleatorio, tres patrones en agregados de 3, 5 y 10 m de radio, y tres patrones regulares con distancias de inhibici&oacute;n de 2, 4 y 6 m, fueron simulados para comparar la eficiencia de los diferentes m&eacute;todos. Los patrones reales proceden de dos bosques caducifolios del litoral cant&aacute;brico y un bosque de con&iacute;feras en la Sierra de Cebollera-Urbi&oacute;n. Las tres t&eacute;cnicas permitieron diferenciar entre un patr&oacute;n univariante aleatorio, agregado y regular. El an&aacute;lisis del vecino m&aacute;s pr&oacute;ximo y la funci&oacute;n K reflejaron las distancias de inhibici&oacute;n en los patrones regulares, pero solo la funci&oacute;n K permiti&oacute; detectar el tama&ntilde;o de los agregados. Los individuos juveniles mostraron un patr&oacute;n en agregados, mientras que los adultos presentaron un patr&oacute;n aleatorio. Respecto a los an&aacute;lisis bivariantes, se obtuvieron evidencias de atracci&oacute;n y repulsi&oacute;n espacial entre algunos patrones simulados, a pesar de que estos son procesos independientes. Los patrones reales mostraron repulsi&oacute;n espacial entre los individuos juveniles y adultos, as&iacute; como atracci&oacute;n entre juveniles de tama&ntilde;os diferentes. Los resultados se interpretaron en relaci&oacute;n con la bibliograf&iacute;a disponible sobre ecolog&iacute;a forestal. Se discute la importancia de aplicar m&eacute;todos apropiados para la correcci&oacute;n del efecto de borde y la utilizaci&oacute;n de modelos nulos alternativos al de aleatoriedad espacial.