Thanks for all the great responses. Here is a summary: -----Original Message----- From: David Inouye [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 3:14 PM To: Staudhammer,Christina L Subject: tags
I use pieces of aluminum beverage cans, embossed with a tag number, put into the ground with a 16d nail. If they get covered, I use a metal detector to find them. You could cover your tags and relocate them that way, but you'd have to swing the detector close to the tag to find it. -----Original Message----- From: Eric Branton [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 3:19 PM To: Staudhammer,Christina L Subject: Re: Re-locating seedlings in a dense forest Christie; Depending on your budget, you might look into a RECCO reflector system. They're designed for aiding in avalanche rescue/recovery but I think they would fit your purpose well. -Eric -----Original Message----- From: Robyn Darbyshire [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 3:41 PM To: Staudhammer,Christina L Subject: Re: Re-locating seedlings in a dense forest The only thing I can think of is to bury a small magnet and then use a metal detector. We use something similar to permanently mark our plot corners here in Oregon and Washington. We have a very lightweight metal detector - it looks like a 2" or so diameter wand about 4' long - and the magnets are buried 8-12" deep. Robyn Darbyshire USDA Forest Service -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Gary W. Roemer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 3:29 PM To: Staudhammer,Christina L Subject: Re: Re-locating seedlings in a dense forest Hi Christie, You may want to give Roland Kays a holler, he is tracking seed fate on Barro Colorado Island. Below is his URL: http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research_collections/research/labs/mammalogy/ and his email is: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Best, Gary Dr. Gary W. Roemer Associate Professor Dept. Fishery & Wildlife Sciences PO Box 30003, MSC 4901 New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM 88003 575-646-3394 (Off.) 575-646-1281 (FAX) [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mike Swift [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 4:34 PM To: Staudhammer,Christina L Subject: Re: Re-locating seedlings in a dense forest HI, Janis Antonovics at Univ. Virginia marks plants by pressing a quarter into the soil next to the plant. He finds them with a metal detector. Mike -----Original Message----- From: Michael Dietze [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 9:38 PM To: Staudhammer,Christina L Subject: Re: Re-locating seedlings in a dense forest For relocating small seedlings within subplots we've used plastic cocktail toothpicks, but this was always once the plot itself was marked with posts and all seedlings were within a couple meters of the posts. The toothpicks tend to be too small for anything to care about, hold up well in weather, and usually come in different colors which aids marking individuals that are near each other. Might not work in your system, but it might give you some ideas (e.g. if you can figure out some other way to get "near" the seedlings) -- Mike -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Shannon Torrence [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 9:56 AM To: Staudhammer,Christina L Subject: tagging plants What about burying something metal (nail??) and using a metal detector? This is not 3-5 feet, but you can sweep the ground w/o being in the hunched over position. Shannon Torrence, PhD Ecosystem Resources Program Coastal Fisheries Division Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 1502 F.M. 517 East Dickinson, Texas 77539 281-534-0136 office 281-534-0122 fax -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ober,Holly Karina Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 9:57 AM To: Staudhammer,Christina L Subject: Although Ive never tried this myself, Ive heard of researchers using metal detectors to locate items of interest in dense forests. Most of the studies Ive read deal with seed dispersal, where researchers insert a metal object inside a number of seeds and then use a metal detector to locate the seeds at a later date. Alternatively, Ive heard of leaving nails behind to mark the locations of plot edges or plants of interest and again using a metal detector to locate them at a later date. Attached are a couple of examples of the metal detector technique. Hope this could be helpful. Holly Ober Assistant Professor, Wildlife Ecology UF/NFREC 155 Research Rd Quincy, FL 32351 850-875-7150 --- Christie Staudhammer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I am looking for some kind of technology to re-locate seedlings in a > dense forest environment. At first, I thought of using PIT tags, but > the maximum range for reading the tags is < 30 inches, which is far > too short for this environment. > To elaborate, we collect annual data on seedlings in the Brazilian > Amazon. > Each year, we re-locate seedlings that have been approximately mapped > in a 100 m x 100 m plot. It is like finding a needle in a haystack, > as the smaller plants are numerous and many species look very similar. > Flagging with bright colours or shiny metal does not work because > these tags are eaten by ants or stolen by monkeys. Optimally, we > would like to bury some sort of tag that could be read ~3-5 meters > away. > The tag should last for at > least two years, and of course not be too costly... > Does this kind of > technology exist? > Thanks in advance for any advice you all may have! > > christie > ------------------------------------------------ > Christina Staudhammer, PhD > Assistant Professor, Forest Biometrics School of Forest Resources and > Conservation University of Florida PO Box 110410 Gainesville, FL > 32611-0410 > (352) 846-3503 >
