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Part 9: Collecting Monitoring Data
Density
Density
is the number of plants per unit area. You will delineate areas,
or quadrats, for density determination at your monitoring sites.
Density refers to the closeness of individual plants. It is often
used as a baseline inventory of the structure of rangeland vegetation
by quantifying different species, or various ages within a single
species.
Density can be determined by counting all plants in a particular
quadrat, or it can be used to measure the prevalence of certain
plant species present in a particular quadrat.
Some considerations when determining density:
- Density of plants asexually reproducing with rhizomes and
stolons is determined by counting the number of stems instead
of the number of individuals.
- Density of seedlings and mature plants should be recorded
separately.
- Heterogeneous plant communities (those containing many different
plant species) are best estimated using quadrats that are rectangular.
Homogeneous plant communities can be counted using square quadrats.
How to Monitor Density
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