Journal
PLANT ECOLOGY
Volume 204, Issue 2, Pages 173-178Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11258-009-9581-8
Keywords
Plant cover monitoring; Line-point transect; Errors; Simulations
Categories
Funding
- Forest, Rangeland Ecosystem Science
- Watershed Stewardship Department of Colorado State University
- Colorado State University Agricultural Experiment Station [1-56602]
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The line-point transect method has been used to estimate plant cover for about nine decades. In particular, the method is often used to determine baseline plant cover and monitor for changes in plant cover over time. In such cases, detection of change requires both the initial transect starting position and angle of orientation are exact in relocation without error. A study was conducted on influences of errors in basal cover estimates that resulted from inexact relocation and orientation of a resample transect. Simulation studies of actual field data showed that variation in plant cover estimates from relocated line-point transects increased with each source of error and combinations of these errors. Relocated transects resulted in unbiased estimates of total-plant cover only when means over all transects are used to detect changes over time. Substantial errors were observed when the mean cover of individually relocated transect was compared to its original transect.
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