Comparison of three vegetation monitoring methods: Their relative utility for ecological assessment and monitoring

Godínez–Álvarez, Héctor; Herrick, Jeffrey E.; Mattocks, M.; Toledo, David; Zee, Justin Van

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2008.11.011

Cited by 168 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Ocular estimates methods also seem to be consistent for assessing shrub cover than line-point intercept protocol (Brun & Box, 1963;Floyd & Anderson, 1987). Godínez-Alvarez et al (2009) supported to use ocular estimates method to assess vegetation dominates by shrubs. The stick method is a modification of line-point intercept.…”

Section: Comparison Of the Two Monitoring Protocolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The stick method is a modification of line-point intercept. Compared to ocular estimations methods, line-point intercept seems to be more precise to measure foliar cover (Godínez-Alvarez et al, 2009;Kercher et al, 2003). Accordingly, the stick method may also be more accurate to estimate cover of vascular plants, lichen, moss, rocks and litter than modified Braun-Blanquet.…”

Section: Comparison Of the Two Monitoring Protocolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies to compare the accuracy of ocular estimation of cover such as modified Braun-Blanquet, Daubenmire and modified Whittaker plots, etc to other methods of surveying vegetation (Kercher et al, 2003;Leis et al, 2003;Anderson & Fehmi, 2005;Godínez-Alvarez et al, 2009;Laliberté et al, 2010) have shown that ocular estimation can lower estimate plants cover, but it seems to have great potential to detect maximum species number of assessing areas compared to the line-point intercept. Consequently, ocular estimates methods seem to be good to monitor and assess biodiversity (Stohlgren et al, 1998;Godínez-Alvarez et al, 2009). Ocular estimates methods also seem to be consistent for assessing shrub cover than line-point intercept protocol (Brun & Box, 1963;Floyd & Anderson, 1987).…”

Section: Comparison Of the Two Monitoring Protocolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This protocol is suggested for rangelands assessment, it seems to be precise, easy to learn and to apply, and provide easily attributes that relate to productivity, infiltration or runoff and soil loss. Different studies have been carried out to describe several assessment protocols and show their strengths and weaknesses (Stohlgren et al, 1998;Prosser et al, 2003;Anderson & Fehmi, 2005;Carlsson et al, 2005;Godínez-Alvarez et al, 2009), additionally this study proposed to determine the differences between the protocols described above and how the indicators they provided can be linked to the ecological status of a given land.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis of the Performance of two Rangeland Protocols, Monitoring and Assessment

Soumana

2016

JPS

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This study compared and contrasted data from the stick and modified Braun-Blanquet monitoring protocols in three areas with different land use histories: an unrestored barren area, a young and old restored areas. The study areas are part of extensive degraded of birch woodland and willow shrubland that have partly been re-vegetated.Vegetation and site characteristics were assessed in the three areas using the two protocols and soil sampling to characterize the ecological status of a land that has been re-vegetated. The analysis of the two protocols data indicates similar tendency which is the improvement of the ecological condition of the restored areas compared to the unrestored area. The soil carbon and nitrogen contents increased when the pH decreased with the restoration age. The improvement is better at the old restored area which has received more fertilization compared to the young restoration. Stick method estimated greater cover of vascular plants, litters, mosses and rocks, and lower amount of bare ground than modified Braun-Blanquet. The two protocols provided similar estimates cover of lichens and sedges. Stick method also provided three supplementary indicators which were not included in modified Braun-Blanquet: plants base, basal and canopy gaps. Another observation that could be proved by further studies, stick seemed to be more precise and economical than modified Braun-Blanquet. The indicators provided by the two protocols were related to the three attributes of ecosystems and the rangelands health indicators. This study is a preliminary that cannot be able to recommend one method, but it advocates stick method to assess and monitor vegetation dominated by herbaceous layer as grassland and modified Braun-Blanquet for the one dominated by woody layer.

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Section: Comparison Of the Two Monitoring Protocolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comparison Of the Two Monitoring Protocolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comparison Of the Two Monitoring Protocolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis of the Performance of two Rangeland Protocols, Monitoring and Assessment

Soumana

2016

JPS

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“…First, plant composition and the restoration measures for each slope should be confirmed, and second the successes of the planned measures should be established by long-term monitoring, especially for vegetation cover and composition, because they are two of the most commonly used as groups of monitoring indicators, and used to evaluate land recovery and the success of restoration projects in many terrestrial ecosystems [68]. Based on Table 2, the restoration project should use herbaceous plants on SF, SW, and NW.…”

Section: (S) Polygonum Macrophyllum (P)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Slope Aspect on Plant Community Composition and its Implications for Restoration of a Chinese Mountain Range

Qin¹,

Holden²,

Feng³

et al. 2017

Pol. J. Environ. Stud.

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Excessive human disturbance (e.g., overgrazing, deforestation) has degraded the environment in the Qilian Mountains in China. Vegetative restoration is likely to be a crucial tool to restore these biologically significant habitats, but it is impossible to achieve this goal if the baseline plant community composition and its variation with local environmental conditions were not understood fully. To assess plant community composition by slope aspect, four different aspects -south-facing slope (SF), southwest-facing slope (SW), northwest-facing slope (NW), and north-facing slope (NF) -were surveyed on three almost non-degraded mountains. The results showed that each slope aspect has different abiotic environments. From SF to NF, soil water content has an increasing trend, but it shows no difference between SF and SW; and daily soil temperature and pH have a decreasing trend, while the former shows no difference between SF and SW, and SW and NW; and the latter shows no difference between SW and NW; and soil organic carbon was significantly increased, but soil bulk density was significantly decreased. Herbaceous plants were dominant on SF, SW, and NW, and trees (Picea crassifolia) were dominant on NF. From SF to NW, the dominant herbaceous plants were Agropyron cristatum and Stipa grandis, Agropyron cristatum and Carex aridula, and Kobresia humilis and Carex crebra, respectively, while on NF they were Carex spp. and Polygonum macrophyllum. The baseline survey points to the need to consider underlying patterns in abiotic conditions when planning restoration programs in these degraded mountain habitats, and to select native plants similar to the original vegetation. The survey provides a vital milestone for the development of policy-based funding initiatives and for ongoing vegetation monitoring during restoration to assess if these vegetative targets have been met.

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Recovery of woody but not herbaceous native flora 10 years post old‐field restoration

Parkhurst

Prober

Standish

2021

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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1. Vegetation recovery in old fields towards mature reference states is often limited by abiotic and biotic thresholds resulting from agricultural land use legacies, as commonly highlighted using state and transition models. Old-field restoration may include interventions (e.g. planting of vegetation) to overcome these thresholds and assist transition between states. However, our understanding of the effectiveness of these interventions is limited.2. Using a point-intercept transect method, we surveyed nine sites, each comprising a triplet of fallow cropland, planted old field and woodland reference plots to reflect states of old-field restoration, from the degraded state to the reference state. We compared ground cover attributes, and richness and cover of woody and herbaceous flora species, using ANOVA and multivariate analyses.3. We found that a decade after planting, cover of leaf litter and woody debris in planted old fields were significantly higher than in the fallow croplands; however, woodland reference conditions were not achieved. Cover of logs was similar to the fallow cropland. Woody species cover and richness were similar in planted old fields and woodland reference plots, with planted old fields having more than 60% of the shrub species richness and cover, and similar tree species richness, to the woodland reference plot. 4. In contrast, whilst herbaceous species contributed more than half the plant species richness in reference woodland plots, there were significantly fewer herbaceous species in the planted old fields, which were more similar to the fallow croplands.Cover of exotic annual forbs in planted old fields was about half that of fallow cropland, and exotic annual grass cover was similar to the reference woodland. 5. Our results show that active restoration of old fields increased leaf litter, woody debris and cover and richness of trees and perennial shrubs. However, native herbaceous species richness, and to some extent cover, remained similar to the fallow cropland. To effect transitioning of the herbaceous layer to the woodland reference state, further intervention such as removal of exotics, followed by sowing or planting native herbaceous species, may be necessary.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Comparison of three vegetation monitoring methods: Their relative utility for ecological assessment and monitoring

Cited by 168 publications

References 20 publications

Analysis of the Performance of two Rangeland Protocols, Monitoring and Assessment

Analysis of the Performance of two Rangeland Protocols, Monitoring and Assessment

Influence of Slope Aspect on Plant Community Composition and its Implications for Restoration of a Chinese Mountain Range

Recovery of woody but not herbaceous native flora 10 years post old‐field restoration

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