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Science 22 September 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5794, p. 1739
DOI: 10.1126/science.1129115
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Technical Comments

Comment on "A Keystone Mutualism Drives Pattern in a Power Function"

David Alonso* and Mercedes Pascual

Vandermeer and Perfecto (Reports, 17 February 2006, p. 1000) reported a general power law pattern in the distribution of a common agricultural pest. However, there is an exact analytical solution for the expected cluster distribution under the proposed null model of density-independent growth in a patchy landscape. Reanalysis of the data shows that the system is not in a critical state but confirms the importance of a mutualism.

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, 830 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109–1048, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dalonso{at}umich.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)