Plant cover
Encyclopedia
The abundance
s of plant
species are often measured by plant cover, i.e. the relative area covered by different plant species in a small plot. Plant cover is not biased by the size and distributions of individuals, and is an important and often measured characteristic of the composition of plant communities . Plant cover data may be used to classify the studied plant community into a vegetation type, to test different ecological hypothesis on plant abundance, and in gradient studies, where the effects of different environmental gradients on the abundance of specific plant species are investigated .
The most common way to measure plant cover in herbal plant communities, is to make a visual assessment of the relative area covered by the different species in a small plot (see quadrat
). The visually assessed cover of a plant species is then recorded as a continuous variable between 0 and 1, or divided into interval classes as an ordinal variable . An alternative methodology, called the pin-point method
(or point-intercept method), has also been widely employed.
In a pin-point analysis, a frame with a fixed grid pattern is placed randomly above the vegetation, and a thin pin is inserted vertically through one of the grid points into the vegetation. The different species touched by the pin are recorded at each insertion. The cover of plant species k in a
plot,
, is now assumed to be proportional to the number of “hits” by the pin,
,
where
is the number of pins that hit species k out of a total of n pins. Since a single pin in multi-species plant communities often will hit more than a single species, the sum of the plant cover of the different species may be larger than unity when estimated by the pin-point method. The sum of the estimated plant cover is expected to increase with the number of plant species in a plot and with increasing 3-dimensional structuring of the plants in the community. Plant cover data obtained by the pin-point method
may be modelled by a generalised binomial distribution (or Pólya–Eggenberger distribution) .
Abundance (ecology)
Abundance is an ecological concept referring to the relative representation of a species in a particular ecosystem. It is usually measured as the large number of individuals found per sample...
s of plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
species are often measured by plant cover, i.e. the relative area covered by different plant species in a small plot. Plant cover is not biased by the size and distributions of individuals, and is an important and often measured characteristic of the composition of plant communities . Plant cover data may be used to classify the studied plant community into a vegetation type, to test different ecological hypothesis on plant abundance, and in gradient studies, where the effects of different environmental gradients on the abundance of specific plant species are investigated .
The most common way to measure plant cover in herbal plant communities, is to make a visual assessment of the relative area covered by the different species in a small plot (see quadrat
Quadrat
A quadrat is a square used in ecology and geography to isolate a sample, usually about 1m2 or 0.25m2. The quadrat is suitable for sampling plants, slow-moving animals , and some aquatic organisms.When an ecologist wants to know how many organisms there are in a particular habitat, it would not be...
). The visually assessed cover of a plant species is then recorded as a continuous variable between 0 and 1, or divided into interval classes as an ordinal variable . An alternative methodology, called the pin-point method
Pin-point method (ecology)
The pin-point method is used for non-destructive measurements of plant cover and plant biomass .In a pin-point analysis, a frame with a fixed grid pattern is placed above the vegetation...
(or point-intercept method), has also been widely employed.
In a pin-point analysis, a frame with a fixed grid pattern is placed randomly above the vegetation, and a thin pin is inserted vertically through one of the grid points into the vegetation. The different species touched by the pin are recorded at each insertion. The cover of plant species k in a
plot,
, is now assumed to be proportional to the number of “hits” by the pin,,where
is the number of pins that hit species k out of a total of n pins. Since a single pin in multi-species plant communities often will hit more than a single species, the sum of the plant cover of the different species may be larger than unity when estimated by the pin-point method. The sum of the estimated plant cover is expected to increase with the number of plant species in a plot and with increasing 3-dimensional structuring of the plants in the community. Plant cover data obtained by the pin-point methodPin-point method (ecology)
The pin-point method is used for non-destructive measurements of plant cover and plant biomass .In a pin-point analysis, a frame with a fixed grid pattern is placed above the vegetation...
may be modelled by a generalised binomial distribution (or Pólya–Eggenberger distribution) .
External links
- PIN-POINT 1.0 is a MathematicaMathematicaMathematica is a computational software program used in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other areas of technical computing...
notebook for estimating plant cover from pin-point data using a generalised binomial distribution.