distribution

noun

The geographic range, continuous or discontinuous, of a plant, animal, or community. Dispersal patterns of occurrence of individuals in a taxon from a certain area, such as a) random distribution, poisson distribution, normal distribution; b) nonrandom above normal distribution, contagious dispersal, over-dispersion, hyperdispersion; and c) nonrandom below normal distribution, hypodispersion, or even-spaced distribution. The terms following each letter are synonyms.