QUADRATS 165 
203. Locating quadrats. In staking a quadrat, the end tapes are in- 
variably placed so that the numbers read from left to right, and the side 
tapes so that they read down. In mapping, a fifth tape is stretched parallel 
to the top, and as each decimeter strip is marked, the outer tape is shifted 
to delimit the new strip. Indeed, the side tapes can be placed alone, and the 
plotting tapes moved down one at a time as the mapping proceeds, but it 
is usually more satisfactory to locate the quadrat exactly and to square it 
first, a task most easily done by enclosing the whole quadrat, and then using 
a fifth tape. In the case of list quadrats in open vegetation, the measuring 
strip is unnecessary, but as a rule it facilitates counting, as well as mapping. 
Fig. 50. Mapping a major quadrat on Mount Garfield at 3,600 m. 
The List Quadrat 
204. Description. This, as the simplest form of quadrat, is employed 
primarily to ascertain the abundance of species in a formation or during 
a’ particular aspect of it. Since this can be obtained readily from the 
chart, the list quadrat has fallen more and more into disuse, except where it 
is desired to determine abundance alone, or to aid in deciding whether a 
chart is really representative. The size depends almost wholly upon the 
nature of the vegetation. When the number of trees is to be determined, a 
quadrat of 10 or 50 meters is necessary. In ordinary herbaceous forma- 
tions, the usual size is 2 meters, while the meter quadrat is used when the 
