The quantitative description of New Zealand bryophyte communities

The technique used at Otago for the quantitative description of bryophyte-dominated communities, mainly in forests is: (a) to estimate the frequency of ground species in dm² quadrats arranged in grids of 25, laid out semi-systematically on the ground, total cover of all plants in the ground layer being estimated at the same time; (b) to estimate the cover of epiphytes on the bottom 2 m. of trees in an objectively drawn sample, using visual estimates of abundance and later converting these to cover values using personal conversion factors. All species are given provisional names and voucher specimens taken for later identification.