Belt transects are used in
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
, more specifically in
biostatistics
Biostatistics (also known as biometry) are the development and application of statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experime ...
, to estimate the distribution of
organism
In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...
s in relation to a certain area, such as the
seashore or a meadow.
The belt transect method is similar to the
line transect method but gives information on abundance as well as presence, or absence of species.
Method
The method involves laying out a transect line and then placing quadrats over the line, starting the quadrat at the first marked point of the line.
Any consistent measurement size for the quadrat and length of the line can be chosen, depending on the species. With the quadrats applied, all the individuals of a species can be counted, and the
species abundance
In ecology, local abundance is the relative representation of a species in a particular ecosystem. It is usually measured as the number of individuals found per sample. The ratio of abundance of one species to one or multiple other species livin ...
can be estimated.
The method is also suitable for long-term observations with a permanent installation.
References
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Ecological techniques
Biology terminology
Environmental statistics