What this Lesson Covers
Overview
The easiest and most objective measurement in vegetation
sampling is to simply declare if a plant is present or not.
When several plots or quadrats are examined then the proportion
of plots in which you declare a plant "present" is known as
Frequency. In other words, if you examine a bunch of
plots across a landscape and you find a particular plant in 75%
of the plots, then, the plant's frequency is 75%. The
challenge in using frequency when assessing plant communities is
not in the estimating... it is in the analysis.
In this module, we will examine how to measure Plant Frequency and give
decision guidelines for when to measure frequency instead of other plant
attributes. Plus, we will include a few tips for analysis of frequency
data.
Learning Objectives
After this module you will be able to:
-
Understand
the what plant frequency is and when to use it for vegetation assessment.
-
Explain
the difference between frequency, density, and cover.
-
Understand
the advantages and challenges in using frequency for characterizing
vegetation.
-
Compare single quadrat versus nested quadrat techniques
-
Analyze frequency data when comparing plant
communities.
|