Comparison of different measurement methods of density for Amygdalus eburnea Spach in Shahr-e Babak, Kerman province

In this research، density of Amygdalus eburnea Spach was evaluated on rangelands of Shahr-e Babak (Kerman province) in summer season of 2008 in habitats with high، medium and low densities by six quadrat، linear transect، Byte & Ripley، T-square sampling، ordered distance method and point-quarter method. The goal of this study was determination of the accuracy and effectiveness (speed of performance) of these methods. For comparison of the methods with control used T-student Analysis. Between the used methods for estimating density، quadrat method had significant difference with control method (p<0. 05) and the other methods hadn’t significant difference with control method. Comparison of the methods in habitats with different densities of the species showed that ordered distance، T-square and linear transect methods with highest accuracy and lowest relative difference of density were the best methods in habitats with low، medium and high densities، respectively. Quadrat method with least accuracy and highest time consuming was the unsuitable method in habitats with medium and high densities. In habitat with low density، linear transect method didn’t show acceptable accuracy. In general، for evaluation of density in Amygdalus eburnea habitats based on least time consuming and highest accuracy، T-square method is recommended.