Community Transect

Field Work

Vegetation Team

Materials

tape measures or a rope with marks (e.g. knots) at 1 meter intervals

one-inch diameter tubes (e.g. paper towel tube)

sampling notebooks and

sticky tape

grid paper

meter sticks

field guides to local plants

The plant team will record, collect, and categorize the vegetation found

at one (1) meter intervals along the sampling plot transects.

As a team, stretch the tape measure or rope along your chosen transect.

Your team should then move along the transect completing the following

jobs at each 1 meter mark.

Scribes

The Scribes coordinate the information collected by the entire plant team

and describe the vegetation at each 1 meter intervals along the transect.

Give each mark on the transect line a number to mark its place along

the transect and record the numbers and findings on a map of the sampling pot.

Then, looking straight down at the transect mark through the one-inch diameter tube for the smaller plants, describe each plant, noting such things as color, shape, size, width, and any other significant characteristics. This description should also include the height of all the plants at the interval, as measured

by the vegetation Measurer. Also note other characteristics at the interval,

such as if it is primarily rock, bare ground, or water.

Samplers

The Samplers take two leaves, or a 10-cm piece including a growing tip and

flowers (if any), from each kind of plant at the interval and place them in a

notebook. You will use these samples later to help you identify the exact

species of the plants. Anchor each sample to the page with a small piece of

sticky tape. Pick up samples from the ground wherever possible. In each

case, note the date and the location where you collected the sample. If

possible, gather samples of seeds.

Artist(s )

On grid paper, the Artists draw a small sketch of the shape of each sampled

plant and its leaves. Use the grid paper squares to help assure each drawing

is appropriately sized on the grid paper. An outline sketch will do, since the

samples your team collects will provide additional detail.

Measurer(s)

The Measurers note the height and size of each piece of sampled

vegetation. You can do this by taking a meter stick and placing it upright

next to each mark in the transect line. Remember all the layers of plants

that are above the mark. Many plants may grow higher than the height at

which you stretched your transect line, and others, such as trees, may

overhang the mark. Estimate the heights of any plants you cannot directly

measure, noting which heights are measured and which are estimated.

Taxonomist(s)

The Taxonomists decide on the plant category into which each sample falls

(see categories below), and wherever possible, identify the exact species of

the sample. These categories are not official taxonomic categories, but they

are a good way to begin sorting the types of plants along the transect.

Categories for Vegetation Team Taxonomists

Trees - single-stemmed woody plants, usually 3 m (10 ft) in height or taller

Shrubs - smaller woody plants; multi-stemmed, above 60 cm in height

Lianas - woody climbers and vines

Herbs - soft-stem plants ankle to knee height (15 cm to 60 cm); this

category includes grasses and other non-woody vascular plants

Ground cover - less than 15 cm in height; this category includes bryophytes

(nonflowering, spore-producing plants such as mosses and

liverworts), epiphytes (plants growing above the ground on other

plants, using them for support), and thallophytes (plants that lack

true leaves, stems, or roots such as fungi, algae, and

the algae-fungi combination --lichen)