Natural Resources Management Masters Theses

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A Comparison of Rangeland Monitoring Techniques for Relative Species Abundance in Northern Mixed Grass Prairie
(North Dakota State University, 2014) Field, Aaron
Clipping by species is one of the most accurate methods available for determining species composition. However, cost and time constraints often make clipping by species impractical on any large scale. Our objective was to determine whether either of two less labor intensive methods (line point intercept, quadrat frequency frame) could provide suitable alternatives to clipping. Data was collected as part of a rangeland monitoring project on the Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Each method was used to inventory grassland plant species within the same plots, which allowed us to analyze the results for each method side by side. Our findings indicate that for relative rankings of species abundance, both line point intercept and quadrat frequency frames produce a similar result as clipping and could be used interchangeably. We suggest using either line point intercept or quadrat frequency frames to produce such a list because of the reduced time inputs involved.