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An examination of Fairfield Smith's law of environmental variation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

S. C. Pearce
Affiliation:
Mathematical Institute, University of Kent at Canterbury

Summary

Fairfield Smith's law relating the error of a field experiment to the size of its plots is well established by observation and in general use, but it appears to have no theoretical basis. It is here shown by computer simulation that it could arise in many ways as a good approximation, provided the range of plot sizes considered is not unreasonably large.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

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References

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