Date of Award
2014
Publisher
North Dakota State University
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Awarded
Master of Science (MS)
Program
Natural Resources Management
Department
Natural Resources Management
College
Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources
Faculty Advisor
Sedivec, Kevin K.
Description
Clipping by species is one of the most accurate methods available for determining species composition. However, cost and time constraints often make clipping by species impractical on any large scale. Our objective was to determine whether either of two less labor intensive methods (line point intercept, quadrat frequency frame) could provide suitable alternatives to clipping. Data was collected as part of a rangeland monitoring project on the Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Each method was used to inventory grassland plant species within the same plots, which allowed us to analyze the results for each method side by side. Our findings indicate that for relative rankings of species abundance, both line point intercept and quadrat frequency frames produce a similar result as clipping and could be used interchangeably. We suggest using either line point intercept or quadrat frequency frames to produce such a list because of the reduced time inputs involved.
Recommended Citation
Field, Aaron, "A Comparison of Rangeland Monitoring Techniques for Relative Species Abundance in Northern Mixed Grass Prairie" (2014). Natural Resources Management. 61.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/nrm/61
Rights
NDSU policy 190.6.2
Rights Link
https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf
Handle Identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/10365/27418