Theme 1-2: Rangeland/Grassland Ecology--Poster Sessions
Description
An analysis of forbs from 9 years of Plant Census protocol (NRI 2019) is compared to data from the Line Point Intercept (LPI) protocol. Both protocols were conducted on the same geospatially separate macroplots (N=1230). The macroplots locations were stratified by NRI based on a land hierarchy which has had long-term use in the United States (Salley etal 2015). This ties vegetation and land together in the data. The analysis showed that the 15-minute plant census method increased forb species data by 29 percent over the LPI method which takes 40-60 minutes. Both methods captured similar total ratios and rank of all functional groups inventoried. The inventory, measured from a uniform plot size, allows plant census forb data to be further analysed by constancy at various land scales. Results provide examples of the forb data used to help identify character species affinity for land hierarchical sites, regional floristics, functional-structural group composition, and assist in future plant identification and awareness training. The Plant Census protocol increases data with very little time investment. Ecological studies with deeper forb focus would benefit by adding the Plant Census protocol.
Citation
Fults, Gene A., "Forb Counts in Grassland Are Sensitive to Analytical Method" (2022). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 14.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/24/1-2/14
Included in
Forb Counts in Grassland Are Sensitive to Analytical Method
An analysis of forbs from 9 years of Plant Census protocol (NRI 2019) is compared to data from the Line Point Intercept (LPI) protocol. Both protocols were conducted on the same geospatially separate macroplots (N=1230). The macroplots locations were stratified by NRI based on a land hierarchy which has had long-term use in the United States (Salley etal 2015). This ties vegetation and land together in the data. The analysis showed that the 15-minute plant census method increased forb species data by 29 percent over the LPI method which takes 40-60 minutes. Both methods captured similar total ratios and rank of all functional groups inventoried. The inventory, measured from a uniform plot size, allows plant census forb data to be further analysed by constancy at various land scales. Results provide examples of the forb data used to help identify character species affinity for land hierarchical sites, regional floristics, functional-structural group composition, and assist in future plant identification and awareness training. The Plant Census protocol increases data with very little time investment. Ecological studies with deeper forb focus would benefit by adding the Plant Census protocol.
