  The young stellar population data of the Perseus, Ophiuchus and Serpens
molecular clouds are obtained from the Spitzer c2d legacy survey in order to
investigate the spatial structure of embedded clusters using the nearest
neighbour and minimum spanning tree method. We identify the embedded clusters
in these clouds as density enhancements and analyse the clustering parameter Q
with respect to source luminosity and evolutionary stage. This analysis shows
that the older Class 2/3 objects are more centrally condensed than the younger
Class 0/1 protostars, indicating that clusters evolve from an initial
hierarchical configuration to a centrally condensed one. Only IC348 and the
Serpens core, the older clusters in the sample, shows signs of mass segregation
(indicated by the dependence of Q on the source magnitude), pointing to a
significant effect of dynamical interactions after a few Myr. The structure of
a cluster may also be linked to the turbulent energy in the natal cloud as the
most centrally condensed cluster is found in the cloud with the lowest Mach
number and vice versa. In general these results agree well with theoretical
scenarios of star cluster formation by gravoturbulent fragmentation.
