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Locate the 1
st
station at the point indicated by the 2x2 mile grid and
locate the remaining stations (n=4) 100 m apart in a straight line and
directed downhill from the 1
st
station. Only place stations in >10%
tree cover (eye level and above). When you encounter natural
openings, meadows, new clear-cuts, ponds or small lakes that exceed
30 m in width while walking transects, do not include the distance
across these open areas as part of the 100 m between transects (Fig 3).
For example, stop counting your steps when you enter an open area,
then continue your count when you exit the open area. When you
encounter roads (or other developments) place station on the other
side of the road and out-of-sight.
Figure 2. Transects are located downhill from the position of the site. Stations are 100 m apart.
Nail a hair-snare onto the tree with the center of the hair-snare
about 18 in from the ground. Your drywall hatchet is about 15 in
long and can be used to make quick measurements in the field.
Use 4 shingle nails – one at each corner of the pad. Hang a small
carpet pad from a nearby tree branch (5 ft from the ground). The
best placement is within sight of and at about 9 ft from the hair-
snare – no more than 15 ft. First, select a tree branch that is
at least 6 ft from the trunk of the tree, as high as you can
reach and with few obstructions below the branch. You will
probably need to cut brush and other branches that might
tangle the pie-plate. Then, cut off the amount of wire that is
needed. Push the wire through the center of the small
carpet pad (2.5 X 2.5 in) provided in your kit using a twisting motion. Gently putting pressure on the
wire is better than brute force here because the wire can easily buckle. Twist the end of the wire in a
single loop below the pad to hold the pad on the wire.
Figure 3. Example showing a transect crossing an open
area. One hundred meters were measured between 1st
and 2nd station; then 80 m was measured from 2nd
station and edge of an open area. The open area was
crossed without measuring distance and 20 m was
measure.
