Line-point intercept, grid-point intercept,and ocular estimate methods: their relative value for rangeland assessment and monitoring

TitleLine-point intercept, grid-point intercept,and ocular estimate methods: their relative value for rangeland assessment and monitoring
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2008
AuthorsGodinez-Alvarez H., Herrick JE, Mattocks M., Toledo D.N., Van Zee JW
Conference NameSociety for Range Management Annual Meeting
Date PublishedJanuary 26-31, 2
Conference LocationLouisville, KY
ARIS Log Number223400
Keywordsgrid-point, line-point, monitoring, ocular, rangeland assessment
AbstractWe compared the utility of three methods for rangeland assessment and monitoring based on the number of species detected, foliar cover, precision (coefficient of variation) and time required for each method. We used four 70-m transects in 15 sites of five vegetation types (3 sites/type). Point intercepts were recorded every 1 m along each transect (280 points/site). Five one square meter quadrats (for ocular and grid-point) were located on each transect (20 quadrats/site). Grid-point intercepts were recorded in 16 points evenly distributed in each quadrat (320 points/site). Foliar cover estimates based on line-point and grid-point intercept methods were similar and correlated based on Spearman’s correlations (r =0.96, p