Stream Bank Vegetation Survey

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Stream Bank Vegetation Survey

• BWET

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Purpose of Vegetation Survey

• Access the woody plant diversity of the stream
  bank
• Diversity Index
• Density how many trees
• Basal Area of area covered by trunk of tree
• Biomass
• productivity
• Access canopy closure over the stream
• Estimate the percent invasive species.

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Stream bank vegetation influences

• the amount of sunlight entering a stream, which
  controls photosynthesis and stream temperature.
• affect stream flow and bank erosion.
• influence shading and temperature,
• important sources of organic material for aquatic
  organisms.
• act as important buffers between upslope land use
  and the stream.

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Getting to know the plants

• Urban areas often have stands of trees, shrubs,
  and herbaceous plants
• A transect is a designated area in which plant
  diversity is assessed. This makes the task of
  identifying all the plants more manageable
• A permanent transect is placed at each school
  that has a stream.
• Long term monitoring site.

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Woody Plants
Canopy
Understory
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Transect Designin relation to stream reach
Direction of sampling 180 ft.
30 ft
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Dimensions of Transect
15 feet
30 feet
30 feet
15 feet
Direction of sampling
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Quadrants
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Data Collection

• Trees and shrub species
• Diameter breast height (dbh)
• Distance from center point to tree
• Canopy closure over stream

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Measuring Canopy trees

• Identify the species
• Tree Identification guide
• Any field guide to trees
• Collect leaves, fruit, pieces of bark (if you
  have trouble identifying)
• Measure the distance of the tree to the center
  point
• Measure a no more than 4 trees per transect point

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• Straight forward situation One tree per quadrat

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• Clustered situation Count a total of 4
  trees/transect point

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Measuring Dbh

• Measure dbh using a special measuring tape
  provided
• dbh measured in inches

DBH
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Canopy Closure Over Stream

• Densitometer readings are made 1.0 foot from the
  stream edge at points that correspond to each
  transect point.
• 6 readings on each side of the stream, 12 points
  total

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Estimating Canopy Closure Over Stream

•  At the waters edge, hold the densitometer
  perpendicular to the bank 1 ft. from the
  shoreline.
• Hold the densitometer as shown at right. A
  reading is obtained by leveling both of the
  densitometers bubble levels (centered between
  the two lines) and then sighting through the
  instrument so that the sighting marks (dot in the
  center circle) are aligned.

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Canopy Closure Over Stream

•  The densitometer is marked off in 4 sections.
  Report the number of sections in which vegetation
  falls. For instance, if leaves are seen in 2 of
  the 4 sections, then report 2.
• Reading are taken at each transect point, one on
  each side of the stream. (A total 6 x 4 x 2 48
  sections or points)

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Data Analysisdata from previous slide
Density 12
150
150
120
120
90
90
60
60
30
30
0
0
Right
Left
Area of left transect 180X 30 5400 ft2
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Data Analysisdata from previous slide
A total 6 x 4 24 sections or points
150
150
120
120
90
90
60
60
30
30
0
0
Left
Right
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Species Diversity
Data Analysisdata from previous slide
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Cover of Invasive Species is measured with GPS
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