Brief Note: Construction of a Circular Plot Sampling Instrument

Abstract

The use of individual and nested circular plots for plant ecology studies has increased in recent years. This method is efficient for sampling vegetation but suffers from problems inherent in the use of chain or rope sampling devices to determine the edge of the circular plot boundary (especially in areas of moderate to dense shrub and tree cover). This note describes the construction of a circular plot sampling instrument with improved adjustability, and ease of use over other methods. The instrument is adaptable to a wide variety of field situations. Because it is optically based, the circular plot sampling instrument and prism provide rapid indication of circular plot boundaries anywhere within sight of the plot sampling instrument.