Line-transect Method

A method used by plant biologists is the line-transect method: Researchers might set three line transects 106.7 m long (350 feet) into a forest and the count all trees more than 25 cm tall within a distance of one meter from the transect.   Each transect is a long, thin quadrate of 213.4 m2 (about 0.0527 acre). Table 1 shows the results.

Species Number Counted  

Estimmated Number per Acre

Transect A

 Transect B Transect C  

Transect A

 Transect B Transect C

Average

Chestnut Oak

 20 28 18   380 531 342 417

Sugar Maple

 5 4 7   95 76 133 101

Amer. Beech

 13 15 16   247 285 304 287

Table 1. Results of line-transect survey.