Fig. 55. Line transect running east 
and west in the Picea-Pinus-hylium, 
showing the relation of the herbaceous 
layer to the Carex-Catha-helium, in- 
vading along the brook; ecotones at é 
TRANSECTS 177, 
plants is made entirely without reference 
to the surface line. The vertical lines on 
the centimeter sheet are taken to corre- 
spond with the tape, and the individual 
which touches the latter on either side is 
recorded to the right or left respectively 
and within the proper square: The spe- 
cies are indicated as for quadrats. A 
single row on either side may be taken 
alone, but the double series serves as a 
desirable check. After the record is 
made, the topography of the transect is 
drawn carefully to scale. This drawing 
is made upon the scale of roo:1 for 
transects of Io meters or less, and of 
1000:1 for those that are longer. The 
combination of this drawing with the line 
series of plants can not be made advan- 
tageously in the field. For the shorter 
transects, meter sizes of centimeter plot- 
ting paper can often be used to advan- 
tage. In this event, the topographic line 
is drawn to the scale of 10:1 and the 
series of plants transferred directly to it. 
In the case of transects between 10 and 
100 meters, the scale of the drawing is 
increased from 1000:1 to 10021, so that 
each decimeter of the original series is 
compressed into a centimeter. For the 
longest transects, corresponding reduc- 
tions must be made, but in these it will 
be remembered that the series is plotted 
by meter instead of decimeter. 
219. The location,,and size of line 
transects are determined by the purpose 
for which they are. designed. Short 
transects are valuable for detail, but they 
can be used to. advantage only where 
