SOP #15: Canopy Closure, Version 1.0. Vegetation Monitoring Procedure for the Southern Plains Grassland Protocol
Owen M. 2024. SOP #15: Canopy Closure, Version 1.0. Vegetation Monitoring Procedure for the Southern Plains Grassland Protocol. Southern Plains Network, National Park Service
This Standard Operating Procedure gives step-by-step instructions for sampling overstory canopy closure with a spherical concave densiometer. Canopy closure is the proportion of the sky obscured by vegetation when viewed from a single point. It is measured at three locations along the 50m transect. Canopy measurements should not occur until the crew has set up and photographed the transect line and completed the Line-Point Intercept procedure (see SOP #6). Procedures are done in this order to avoid trampling vegetation along the transect before it is monitored. This version was implemented during the 2024 field season.
- Type
- Standard Operating Procedure
- Authors
- Owen, Merran
- Date of Issue
- 2024
- Publisher
- Southern Plains Network, National Park Service
- Units
- SOPN
- Keywords
- grasslands, monitoring, sampling, SOPN, Southern Plains Network, vegetation
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Grassland/Herbaceous Communities , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Fire and Fuel Dynamics | Fire and Fuel Dynamics