ract al ▁art . ▁Other ▁types ▁include ▁det r ended ▁fl uct u ation ▁analysis ▁and ▁the ▁Hur st ▁absolute ▁value ▁method , ▁which ▁estimate ▁the ▁hur st ▁exponent . ▁It ▁is ▁suggested ▁to ▁use ▁more ▁than ▁one ▁approach ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁compare ▁results ▁and ▁increase ▁the ▁robust ness ▁of ▁one ' s ▁find ings . ▁ ▁App lications ▁ ▁E col ogy ▁and ▁evolution ▁ ▁Un like ▁theoretical ▁f ract al ▁curves ▁which ▁can ▁be ▁easily ▁measured ▁and ▁the ▁underlying ▁mathematical ▁properties ▁calculated ; ▁natural ▁systems ▁are ▁sources ▁of ▁heter ogene ity ▁and ▁generate ▁complex ▁space - time ▁structures ▁that ▁may ▁only ▁demonstrate ▁partial ▁self - similar ity . ▁ ▁Using ▁f ract al ▁analysis , ▁it ▁is ▁possible ▁to ▁analyze ▁and ▁recognize ▁when ▁features ▁of ▁complex ▁e colog ical ▁systems ▁are ▁alter ed ▁since ▁f ract als ▁are ▁able ▁to ▁character ize ▁the ▁natural ▁complexity ▁in ▁such ▁systems . ▁Thus , ▁f ract al ▁analysis ▁can ▁help ▁to ▁quant ify ▁patterns ▁in ▁nature ▁and ▁to ▁identify ▁devi ations ▁from ▁these ▁natural ▁sequences . ▁It ▁helps ▁to ▁improve ▁our ▁overall ▁understanding ▁of ▁e cos ystem s ▁and ▁to ▁reve al ▁some ▁of ▁the ▁underlying ▁struct ural ▁mechan isms ▁of ▁nature . ▁For ▁example , ▁it ▁was ▁found ▁that ▁the ▁structure ▁of ▁an ▁individual ▁tree ’ s ▁x yle m ▁follows ▁the ▁same ▁architecture ▁as ▁the ▁spatial ▁distribution ▁of ▁the ▁trees ▁in ▁the ▁forest , ▁and ▁that ▁the ▁distribution ▁of ▁the ▁trees ▁in ▁the ▁forest ▁shared ▁the ▁same ▁underlying ▁f ract al ▁structure