It is assumed that the grassland patches in the sub-tropical region of Nepal are homogeneous dominated by few major grass species. What should be the sample size and number of sampling units in a particular location (grassland patch)? Some literature have highlighted Relevee method and some have mentioned Tansley method. But how to fix the number of sampling units (or number of sample points/plots)?.
Don't use any sampling procedure that requires random sampling of sites because it may may actually result in sampling zero plants lol. If you don't have plants in your quadrats, you can't describe anything! Sample size depends on the area being surveyed, with larger areas requiring more quadrats – I think it is adequate to sample 5–10% of the area. If the plants are clumped, you will need to use strip quadrats. But arial photography with imaging is best!
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Please find following articles which may guide you to explore grassland of Nepal and to know already adopted techniques.
Bell, D. (1986) A study of the biology and population status of the hispid hare Caprolagus hispidus in Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, Western Nepal.
An ecological assessment of Hispid Hare Caprolagus hispidus
(Mammalia: Lagomorpha: Leporidae) in Manas National Park,
Assam, India
If the grass cover is patchy, it might be best first to map the grassland patches on several, at least 4, but rather a few more sites the total area of which would be sufficiently large to represent the percentage of grassland cover over the whole examined.. Then, I would advise you to select randomly several patches in which you could estimate the grass cover by the point quadrat method. The final result would be an assessment of the share of grassland patches in the total area of the site examined, and an estimate of the average density of the grassland cover, with confidence limits of the estimate.
Line intercept method if the grass species form individual clumps or patches
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