Plant Survey Techniques – Online – December 5th & December 12th, 2024

Note: This event is split into two sessions over two days; December 5th and December 12th.

Are you tasked with surveying or assessing plants and ecosystems?  

Equipped with some plant identification skills, students and field technicians may find themselves required to venture into the field for such purposes. Depending on the research or site investigation being carried out, they may need to measure the following characteristics of plant populations: 

• Density: the number of individual plants per unit area; 
• Frequency: the proportion of sampling units containing the plant species of interest; 
• Cover: the amount of ground surface covered by the plant(s), measured from above; or 
• Biomass: the amount of plant material produced over a given period of time. 
• Species richness. 

To conduct these plant-specific measurements effectively, choices must be made in how the information is collected, such as: 

• Determining the appropriate size of sampling unit for the study or site investigation; 
• Selecting the most valuable or practical types of sampling units (e.g., quadrats, transects, macroplots, etc.); 
• Organizing sampling plots (along transects, inside larger units, randomly). 

In our Plant Survey Techniques MicroCourse, students will develop the ability to make these decisions based on their knowledge of the plant population of interest, the objectives of the study or site investigation, the seasonality of the plant populations, and other factors that help determine the best methods to survey or assess plants.