Point Sampling: Section 6.2.1, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wildlife Resources Management Manual.

A report on point sampling techniques is provided as Section 6.2.1 of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wildlife Resources Management Manual. These techniques may be used by the Corps District or project biologist to rapidly estimate percentage ground cover of vegetation on project lands. ics covered include guidelines for technique selection and study design, preparation for sampling, procedures for data collection, recording, and data analysis. The techniques described in this report utilize single points, rather than groups of points, at each sampling stop. Point sampling is conducted by one observer, who locates sampl points at given intervals along a transect and records the presence or absence of herbaceous, shrub, and tree canopy cover at each point. Point sampling can be applied to a wide variety of vegetation types but gives the most reliable results in open and semi-open habitats, such as grasslands, savannas, old fields, and open forests. It is especially useful for sampling extensive areas when manpower andor resources are limited, as one person can conduct point sampling with minimal equipment. Detailed instructions are given for recording and analyzing data hese are accompanied by numerical examples that illustrate each step of recording and data analysis. A reproducible form is also provided for recording and calculating point sampling data.