02.04.2025: Adam CLARK (Univ. Graz) “Multi-site comparison of observation error in vegetation relative cover surveys", HS 02.11, Institut für Biologie, Bereich Zoologie, Universitätsplatz 2, 13:15 Uhr
In vegetation ecology, survey of vegetation cover have become a standard method because they are fast, relatively inexpensive to carry out, and relatively easy to compare to historical records. However, observation error rates of such surveys are often very high (resulting, e.g., from identification errors, plot relocation errors, and phenological changes), which risks obscuring, or worse, biasing, estimates of biodiversity change across space and time. Here, I will discuss an ongoing project in which we are trying to quantify these errors, and find ways to adjust and correct for them in statistical analyses.