Earlier demographic studies have shown that the vital rates (i.e., plant growth rate, survival rate, and fecundity) and the population growth rates can fluctuate differently in neighboring plant subpopulations, depending on localized disturbance regimes in the different habitats. The differences in background environments may sharply determine the patterns of ecological distribution and structures of plant populations in the habitats that develop over an environmental gradient. Spatial analyses both of vitality of individuals and population statistics are necessary. Furthermore, fluctuations in population growth rates were analyzed to detect the key processes and stages that contribute to their demographic success and fitness of the species, using the life table response experiments (LTRE). The results of the upper- and lower-level LTRE analyses on natural Japanese horse chestnut and Japanese wingnut populations indicated that evaluating the long-term growth processes of juveniles was important and necessary for understanding the maintenance mechanisms of local populations and life history strategies. Finally, we will illustrate the relation between elasticity, variance, or LTRE contribution and sensitivity of vital rates and discuss the relationships among demographic parameters, retrospective and prospective analyses.