Overabundance of Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann (White-tailed Deer) can have negative effects on woody vegetation. I developed the SPIDER transect method to quantify an area impacted by deer overbrowsing. I compared area evaluated and time expended (effort) with the traditional belt-transect method. The SPIDER transect method had 3× less transects that were at least 20× longer and evaluated an area 50× larger (350 ha) with 50% less effort compared to the belt-transect method (6 ha). The quantifiable area is an advantage of the SPIDER method that is not obtained using the traditional belt-transect method; in this study, woody vegetation in a 304.5-ha area around a park campground exhibited overbrowsing. The SPIDER transect is a wildlife-centric, efficient method that could be beneficial for prescribing and evaluating management recommen dations.
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1 September 2016
Development of a Biologically Centered Habitat-Monitoring Technique: SPIDER Transect Method
Stacy L. Hines
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Southeastern Naturalist
Vol. 15 • No. 3
September 2016
Vol. 15 • No. 3
September 2016