Dear all,
What sampling method provides most information about occurrence, distribution and impact of invasive plants in flatland riparian areas?
Thanks!
As I mentioned in my answer to another question, quadrats can be used for most plant populations to measure cover, density, or frequency. Size is critical if measuring density – make sure each quadrat includes a significant number of plants. If plants are clumped, use long strip quadrats. Other methods include delimited plots, line transects, or certain distances within the sampling area i.e. points. You can also use aerial photography. To measure impact, you would have to compare pristine with invaded areas, but avoid pseudo-replication by comparing at least 3 ecosystems, or at least make sure your study areas are widely spaced.
Please check the below given links.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2011.01974.x/pdf
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-004-3904-4
some methods in this article
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Dear all,
I am very thankful for the answers and recommendations, hope sharing more experience in future!
See attached for cover sampling protocols (e.g. stratified random clustered; line intercept) for an invasive species in flatland including riparian vegetation. Many variations are possible as long as the sampling is unbiased (systematic and/or random). Efficiency in geneating large numbers of samples was another consideration.
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I estimate that you will also have to take into account the scale and dimensions of the riparian environment. In Patagonia rivers must have similar dimensions (flows and hydrological regimes) to those of Serbia. In our case, it was necessary to adjust the shapes of the pictures to avoid edge effect and to resize them (initially they were larger than the geoforms on which the pictures were established, and this relationship with riparian vegetation is fundamental). That is why defining a scale beforehand and recognizing the influence of geomorphology on invasion is indispensable. Then you can make pictures or transects. Due to the discreet condition of our patches of vegetation in Patagonia, we chose pictures
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