A modified method of mapping hill vegetation in relation to animal distribution.
Abstract
A method is described of mapping hill vegetation and of relating the map produced to animal distributions by recording both sets of data on a 10-m grid and incorporating these in computer analyses. The essential points of the system are: the interpretation of an uncontrolled mosaic of panoramic photographs bearing a hectare grid transposed from a vertical aerial photograph; a ground check of the boundaries of plant communities by a 2-man team (observer and fieldman) equipped with radio transceiver communication; mapping by transfer from the gridded panoramic mosaic to the vertical aerial photograph with the original grid; map translation into computer form by recording co-ordinats of boundaries on a 20 X 10-m grid and classifying the intervening points by computer interpolation; verification of the computer printout map by direct visual comparison with the original aerial photograph overlay.