A “Nelder Plot” is a symmetrical system of planting that was initially used in agriculture to determine the ideal spacing for various crops. Seeds are planted in a radial pattern, like spokes on a wheel, with increasing spacing as you move out from the center, allowing you to study speed of growth and success of the organism at various levels of competition with its neighbors. John Ashworth Nelder was a British statistician who came up with the concept. There are a few nelder plots on the west slope of the Sierra that were planted for research in the 1990’s. They’re kind of unimpressive from the ground, but the drone brings them to life.