An Excel spreadsheet for calculating line intercept information is included with this lab. If you have Microsoft Excel installed on your computer, click here to open the file.
1. To use this spreadsheet, each species must be numbered. If you prefer, you could type in names instead of numbers.
2. The total number of transects must be entered in I1.
3. The unit of area goes in cell I2. Unit area is calculated as follows:
Determine the unit that you want your density estimates in. In this exercise, you will use square meters. Your measurements are in centimeters, so your density estimates will be plants per square centimeter. There are 10,000 square centimeters in one square meter, so your density estimates must be multiplied by 10,000. This number (10,000)goes in cell I2.
4. The total length of all transects goes in cell I3. Use the same units as your plant measurements. If you measured your plants in centimeters, and the total length of all transects is 5 meters, enter 500 in this space.
5. All of the data for each transect must be entered one transect at a time. For transect one, species 1, enter all of the intercept lengths in row 5. Enter all of the corresponding widths directly underneath in row 6.
6. Repeat this procedure for each species found in transect 1.
7. Move to D25 and repeat the data entry for transect #2.
8. Transect #3 starts at D45. Repeat until all of the data have been entered.
9. The calculations are located at the far right end of the spreadsheet near the top beginning in cell AF1. To quickly move there in Excel, press CTRL- HOME, then, press END, and then press ENTER. In Works, press CTRL- HOME, then END.
10. Save your spreadsheets with the data that you have entered on your local hard disk. Click Save As, choose a folder and give the file a name.
If you used the Excel Viewer, you will not be able to save the spreadsheet. Instead, copy the spreadsheet to a word processor document and then save the document.