We suggest methods for the analysis of the spatial distribution of plant species in a research area divided into a quadrat lattice. In particular, information about the topography and the spaces without plants is used for the analysis. At sites with a homogeneous substratum, we classify the topography by whether a target grid is concave or convex with respect to a standard surface of altitude. At other sites, we classify the topography according to whether the grid is located at the edge of rock and/or at a water pool. Information about the topography and the plant existence is used for constructing 2 × 2 contingency tables. In order to determine the strength of dependence between the topography and plant existence, the Akaike information criterion (AIC) is used. The methods are applied to data of the microtopography and distribution of mosses in continental Antarctica. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. and NIPR.