Measuring Community Structure

 

John G. Kell

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2006, Volume 27

Abstract

A plant community can be sampled using a “wandering quarter” survey, a plotless survey method that requires no set-up and minimal equipment. Participants zig-zag from tree to tree, always heading in the same general compass direction. Data collected can be used to calculate several common measures of plant community structure, including species richness, species diversity, relative basal area, stems per hectare, relative dominance, and importance value. Hypotheses about the effect of various abiotic parameters, such as altitude, or aspects, or the effect of various forest management techniques, can be tested by comparing the parameters of community structure.

Keywords:  sampling techniques, plant community structure, plant ecology

Virginia Tech (2005)