Belt transects are normally used to monitor changes in vegetation along a gradient or across a community boundary. They consist of frame quadrats of any size laid contiguously along the length of the transect. Cover, local frequency or other vegetation attributes can be estimated for each quadrat, and the variation in attibutes along the transect can be determined. This information can be compared between sampling occasions (for example, to see whether the extent of a plant community has changed).As for frame quadrats, transects may be permanent or temporary. For general monitoring purposesit is recommended that permanent transects are not used unless minimising sampling variation is of prime importance (see Section 6.4.2 or Part I, Section 2.3.2 for a detailed discussion). An exception to this is where belt transects are deliberately placed across vegetation boundaries, for example to monitor changes in the extent of an NVC community. In such situations, permanent transects provide a precise and efficient means of monitoring such changes, but steps should be taken to ensure that transects are, and remain, representative, and that sufficient transects are allocated to allow for lost samples.When randomising the location of fixed-length temporary transects, it is not necessary to randomise the direction of the transect; it is recommended that all transects lie in the same direction (Greenwood, 1996). However, it is important that all points within the study area are equally likely to be sampled. To achieve this, an area of one complete transect length surrounding the study area must be included when start points are selected (Part I, Section 2.3.3); parts of transects that fall outside the study area are ignored, but any fragment that falls within the study area should be surveyed.Time efficiencyLine transects are particularly efficient in areas of sparse vegetation, although time needs to be set aside to mark out the transect prior to recording data. However, if the vegetation is dense, then recording all touches can be timeconsuming, in which case point transects are more efficient. Cover estimates will also be more difficult where plants are small, indistinct and intermingled.Belt transects are time-consuming if all species are to be recorded and many quadrats are used, but they can provide detailed information on vegetation changes.
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