Species abundance sampling in Picardy
This spring, the researchers have started to sample species abundance in the two landscape windows located in North France. The aim is to survey all forest patches and record the abundance of all species using the species lists which are already available from previous studies, and completing them with any new species we find. They evaluate the abundance of each species as an index (1 – rare species, 2 – frequent species and 3 – dominant species) in the tree, shrub and herb layers. The sampling is done in several points which are evenly distributed along transects into each forest patch, or in one center point for very small patches (less than 0.5 ha). This data will allow calculating average values of abundance of each species for each forest patch.
By now, they have surveyed most of the patches in the intensively cultivated (« openfield ») window and at the beginning of June they are planning to spend some days sampling the less managed (« bocage ») window.
