Saola threat and habitat surveys: Instructions.

Nicholas Wilkinson(1) & Pham Van Dong(2)

November 2012.

Photos by Nicholas Wilkinson, Serda Ozbenian, Pham Doan Vong

(1) University of Cambridge, Department of Geography, (2) Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry and Bach Ma National Park.

Work conducted with the support of WWF Greater-Mekong Programme, Forest Protection Department Thua Thien Hue and Bach

Ma National Park.

Three principles: These are the three most important basic rules to follow when filling in this sheet.

1) Principle of on-site recording: Record data directly on the datasheet in the field; not when you get

back to camp and certainly not when you get home. You do not need a notebook; only the

datasheet.

2) Principle of consistency: You need a standardized procedure so that you do the same thing at

every site. Differences between two datasheets should show real differences between the sites,

not differences in what you do, or what you know.

3) Principle of fairness: You cannot choose sites which you think will be particularly interesting for any

reason, nor can you spend more time in such sites because this will give results which are not fair.

Surveys are to find things out, not to confirm what you already think.

Study design:

Stage 1) Defining the study area.

Your study area must be clearly defined. It may be a protected area or it may be a district or other

administrative unit. If it is an administrative unit, you need to define your area as 'the natural forest within

the district'. This means you need to use data which come ultimately from satellite data to show the natural

forest boundaries. Recent data from FIPI or sub-FIPIs will do for this purpose in Vietnam.

Produce a GIS polygon file for your study area

Stage 2) Select random squares.

Produce a 1km × 1km grid

Select the squares within the grid whose centres fall within your study area.

Number the squares randomly.

(see appendix one for instructions on how to do this in ArcGIS)

Stage 3) Define sample size

How many sites can you do?

Decide on a number (n) and select squares 1 to n on your random grid.

How many squares you need will depend on what you want to do with the results and also on whether you

plan to combine your data with data from other areas. As a general rule though, doing less than 10 sites is

not worthwhile.

Stage 4) Plan field trip.

Looking at the map of your study area, plan a series of field trips that will take you to all the squares. You

will need to survey a quadrat in each square and this will take you most of a morning or afternoon. This

means you need to be very careful where you camp.

Quadrat. Rather than surveying the whole square, you should aim to survey the

200 × 200 m quadrat in the centre of the square (see diagram). You do

not have to mark this quadrat on the ground; instead use a GPS to stay

within the quadrat.

It is a good idea to enter the corners of the quadrat into the GPS before

you start. If you use the UTM format for coordinates then these will look

like this:

SW XXX400, XXXX400

SE XXX400, XXXX600

NE XXX600, XXXX400

NW XXX600, XXXX400

So for the square whose south-west corner is: 788000, 1774000, the SW corner of the quadrat will be

788400, 1774400.

Basic search method.

The basic method is intensive searches for snares and human sign. This method is appropriate in the

complex terrain of the Central Annamites. However, because the method is not very directed or

standardized, it puts a lot of responsibility on the researcher to do it correctly.

The most important guideline is to always

ask yourself “If there were a human trail

within this quadrat, would I find it?” You

should aim to find all human trails and

follow them for their full length within the

quadrat.

Apart from trails which are cut by humans,

human trails also include streams. If you

find a stream which it is possible walk along

(or climb up) you should do so and follow it

for its full length within the quadrat too.

This includes dry streams. Only streams

which are very dangerously steep or thickly

overgrown with vegetation should not be

followed. When following a stream look

carefully for trails or smaller streams

branching off the stream. These can be

hard to detect, especially with larger

streams.

A typical route of a survey through a quadrat

Trails which are not along streams are usually along ridge-tops (though not always). So carefully check

ridge-tops for trails also. Even if you cannot see immediately that there is a trail there, you will often find

one if you walk a distance along the ridge-top.

If you find any places which are not ridgetops or streams and are not too steep or overgrown to look

through, search them very carefully for traps or animal sign.

You may find it helpful to walk around the quadrat, to all four corners and check for trails going into and

out of the quadrat. If you do find any, you should follow them. This makes it easy to record the habitat data

but be careful that you do walk all the way around the quadrat. Three corners are not enough. It is not a

rule that you have to search your quadrat in each way but your GPS tracklog should show that you have

searched effectively.

As you search, you should use both your GPS and your datasheet to record data. It is very important to

record data on your datasheet while you are in the field not when you get back to camp. Remember paper

is cheap; data are precious and ecologists never trust a clean datasheet. Don't use pens with flowing ink,

though, as it runs if it gets wet.

This method is designed to be used by 2 people (researcher and guide) in a search of a quadrat. If you

absolutely need to take a third person, this is acceptable. However please do not include more than 3

people in a survey of one quadrat. Doing this changes your chances of detecting things and so will bias the

results of the survey.

Using the GPS

It helps to have a sensitive, modern GPS and also to enter the quadrat corners into your GPS as waypoints

before you start. Even better would be to upload a digitised map to your GPS.

It is absolutely essential that you record GPS tracklogs (NOT JUST WAYPOINTS!) the entire time you are

searching within the quadrat. Without the GPS data, the other information you record is almost worthless.

You should set the tracklog to record every 10 metres, otherwise it is not possible to tell where you went

with sufficient resolution. This can use up a lot of GPS memory. We suggest that you clear the tracklogs

from your GPS before you go to the forest and don't use tracklogs except when you're conducting surveys

in the quadrat.

It is not very important to stay exactly within the quadrat. If you are near to the edge and you stray outside

the line by up to 30 metres it does not matter. If you have to go much further than that in order to follow a

path back in to the quadrat, you should stop recording data until you're back in the quadrat.

Combining this research with other research objectives.

You may wish to combine these quadrat surveys with other research. We want to keep an eye out for

possible dung of Saola or other ungulates. This means looking out for recent animal trails (best found by

looking for bitten leaves) and following them, perhaps out of the quadrat.

This is quite acceptable but, if you do this – or if you stop for any other reason – you need to stop the

quadrat survey and start it again later. You need to record the times you stop and re-start. Do not try and

do both at the same time.

Another important kind of information which you may want to record is data from within the square but

outside the quadrat. You may see things within the square on the way to the quadrat which you want to

record. If you do this, you should also save a tracklog as soon as you enter the square; but you can set it to

record every 50m, not every 10. We are developing a datasheet for use in the square outside the quadrat.

Please ask if it is ready yet.

One tip on planning your forest trips

Be careful where you camp because otherwise you will end up walking for a very long time to get to and

from your quadrats! It's generally not possible to make one camp site and survey all your squares from

there; you will have to move camps. Also, if you hire local guides, they are likely to select camp sites with

which they are familiar but which may be several hundred metres or even several kilometers from your

quadrat. These sites are also likely to be in the middle of patches of secondary forest thick with rattan and

bamboo because they are former village locations and the forest was cleared in the recent past. Several

hundred metres walk through this kind of terrain in the central Annamites can take most of a day.

We suggest always camping within the survey square. That way you are collecting data whenever you are in

the forest. You should not camp within the quadrat, however, in case you accidentally disturb things before

your survey.

Quadrat Datasheet:

Page 1: Survey details

Square no: The random number allocated to the 1km square you are in.

SW corner: The co-ordinates (in UTM-WGS84) of the south-west corner of

that 1km square.

Example: Square no. 7; SW Corner 788000, 1774000

You should record the square no. on every page of the datasheet in case

the sheets get separated from each other.

Quadrat:You should survey the 200 x 200m quadrat in the centre of this 1km square (see diagram). Always

choose the quadrat in the centre, even if it is difficult. The survey method is designed to be used in any

kind of terrain.

The co-ordinates of the South-west corner of the quadrat in this square are: 788400, 1774400. All quadrat

corners will end in 400 or 600.

Date and Time.

You should record the date and time when you enter the 200 x 200m quadrat and begin your survey.

If you stop for a break of more than 10 minutes, or for any other reason (including to do a different kind of

survey) you should record the time you stop and then the time you start again. Also record the time you

finish.

There is nothing wrong with taking breaks if you need to! This work is difficult and human beings need to

rest and eat. The important thing is that we know how long you spent searching.

Personnel.

Please give the names of everyone present. It is very important to know how many people there are on the

survey. Usually it should just be you and one local guide. There should be no reason to take anyone else to

survey in the quadrat. This is because if you have more people, you are more likely to see things so you will

make the survey unfair. However, if you do need to take another person, for any reason, you should record

it.

You should also try to keep the same local guide as much as possible.

Equipment

If you are a single researcher and you only have one GPS and one camera it is not important to fill in the

codes. However if you work for an organisation which has many GPS units or cameras, then we need to

know which one has your data on it! If the GPS or camera does not have a number written on it you should

write one on it with permanent marker.

Please always check that your GPS is set to use the UTM co-ordinate system with the WGS84 datum. If you

want to use another system, write it down.

General habitat description

Old forest and young forest (which are not the same as primary and secondary forest) seem to be valid

categories to classify forest in Saola areas and are used by both Kinh (majority Vietnamese) and ethnic

minority peoples (Katu, Ta Oi, Pa Co) in the areas where I work. Old forest is forest which has not been

cleared for swidden agriculture – at least not within several decades, even though it may have been logged.

Young forest has been cleared and re-grown and usually has much higher densities of rattan and/or

bamboo and/or vines as well as generally much smaller trees.

This is only a rough habitat classification and you do not need to measure anything – only estimate the

percentage coverage within the quadrat.

Information from local guide.

The most important thing to remember here is that this information is not compulsory. You should only

collect it if your guide can easily tell you the answer. Do not make him give you an answer if he is not

sure. If you do not have a guide from a village who traditionally uses this area, don't bother asking.

Forest peoples can have a much richer vocabulary of forest types than other peoples. It can be useful to

record this information in the local language. Only record if your guide can easily give you an answer. Try to

get as detailed as possible; for example Katu people have a word for young forest: 'aruihh' but there are

many words to describe different types of arruih.

Your guide may also know about the history of the area. This information can be very useful in the future if

we collect enough. It can help us understand about forest regeneration.

Please note that this section is ONLY for information that your guide gives you, not for your own

estimates of when the area must have been cleared, etc.

Page 2: Line data

This sheet allows you to record data on features which are linear: trap-lines and trails.

GPS data

To record the location of a trap line or a trail, you should first record the point at which you meet the

trapline or trail (meet line). This is likely to be in the middle of the trail/line. You then need to follow the

line in one direction. You should follow it to the end, or until it reaches the edge of the quadrat. If it is a

snare-line, please follow it to the end, even if it goes outside the quadrat. Record this point (line start).

Then you should turn back and follow it the other way until the end (or, for trails, until the point it leaves

the quadrat). Record this point also (line end).

If you meet the trap-line/trail at the start, just write the same co-ordinates for meet line and line start.

GPS units let you save a location quickly as a waypoint (wpt). It is fine to write down only the waypoint

name when in the field but make sure you write down all the co-ordinates later; preferably before you

leave the field and especially if someone else might be using the GPS after you.

What is a trap-line?

Trappers sometimes set traps individually and sometimes in clusters. Often, however, they set a long line of

traps along a trail. This is typical for wire snares linked by brush fences, though trap-lines can also be of

other traps.

If the traps in the line are more than 3 metres apart and are not linked by a fence, you should record them

as individual traps, not as a trap-line.

You should record all trap-lines, even old ones. However you have to be able to see something. Do not

record a place just because your guide tells you there used to be a trap-line there. Do not record a place

where a trail has been cut but you can see no trace left of the traps or the fence.

TRAPS

Type

There are many types of traps. We are concentrating on four basic types which we believe are the main

types in our landscape. However you should also record any other kind of trap and make notes.

A snare (sn) is any kind of trap which uses a loop of wire to catch an animal. The most common type in our

area at the moment is made of bicycle brake-wire, attached to a stick between 2 and 3m long which is

stuck into the ground at an angle and bent over to make a spring. When the trap is triggered the stick un-

flexes and stands up. The snare tightens about the animal's leg, neck or body. The wire loop is about 20-

30cm across.

If you find a snare of this type, just circle 'sn' and also fill in the other details about the snare.

There are other types of snares: some for larger animals like bears and tigers which may have much larger

loops and some for smaller animals like pangolins or squirrels which may be placed on tree-branches or

around burrows. These types of snares often do not have a bent stick as a spring. If you find snares of these

or other types, circle 'sn' but also write a note to indicate the kind of snare.

Squash trap (sq)

A squash trap is any kind of trap where a log, or something else falls on top of an animal to kill it. Typical

squash traps in our area are about 70cm long and used to catch civets and other small carnivores. They

tend to be baited. If you see a squash trap like this please just circle 'sq'. However larger ones do also exist;

if you see some other kind of squash trap, circle 'sq' and make notes.

Snap traps (sp)

Snap traps are made of metal and are sold in shops as traps (unlike most traps which are made by the

hunter). They have two jaws and a spring so that they snap closed when the animal steps in them. They

need to be tied to a root or something else on the forest floor. Typical snap traps in our area are quite

small, with the jaws only about 10-15 cm long and made of wire. They do not have teeth. If you see a trap

of this type just circle 'sp'. Larger traps with (sometimes dangerous) teeth also exist. If you see some other

type of snap-trap please circle 'sp' but also make notes.

Nets (nt)

These are used for birds or bats (we do not include fishing nets) and can be hung in a variety of different

ways. Sometimes a long line of nets may be used (in which case it is a trapline) though this seems to be

rare.

If the trap doesn't fit into any of these categories, please assess whether you think it would catch large

animals or small animals. 'Large' here means the size of a small muntjac or larger. Civets are therefore

mostly counted as small animals. Of course traps for large animals can often catch small ones too. Mark ol

or os as appropriate and always make notes on the back to describe the trap.

No. (cond).

You should record the number of traps in the line in each of three conditions (set, good and old).

So if 12 of the traps are set, 4 are good but not set and 2 are old, please write:

s....12

g....4

o....2

set traps are traps which are ready to catch an animal. If it is a snare, it means the wire is there and, if there

is a spring-stick, it is bent over ready to spring. If it is a squash trap it means it is baited (usually) and the log

is raised. If it is a snap trap, it is open and ready to spring shut.

good condition traps are traps which are not set but which the hunter could easily re-set with none or

minor repairs.. In the case of typical snares, this may mean that the wire itself is missing but that the hunter

could easily come back with the wire and the trap would work again. Or the wire may be there but the stick

is not bent over.

old traps are traps which cannot be used again and must be significantly repaired or replaced in order to

catch any more animals.

Snares only – details

Wire (w)

Is the wire normal (n) – i.e. bicycle brake-wire, or is it something thicker

(l)?

Runner (rnr) this is a feature seen on some snares (see picture). Others

just have one piece of wire with a little loop in the end. Does the snare

have a runner? yes or no.

Orientation (ori) Is the snare loop vertical (v) to catch the animal's neck

or body, or is it horizontal (h) and on the ground to catch its foot?

Fence

Trap-lines usually have some kind of fence between the traps to guide the animal into the traps. The fence

may be a brush fence of heaped branches, or it may be a structured fence, usually (but not always) made of

bamboo. Some fences are mostly made of brush with just a bit of structured fence around the traps. Mark

this as a brush fence.

You should note the condition of the fence: old or good, as for the traps themselves. Try and assess the

whole fence for the whole line and give the average condition.

Notes.

There is not much space for notes and unusual trap types need a lot of notes. So make a mark here and

write on the back of the sheet.

You should also note any animals found in the snares. Our experience is that this doesn't happen often

enough for us to need a column in the datasheet. But you should make notes (including the species) if you

do find any animals and note if they're alive, injured, recently dead or mostly decomposed. Take pictures

too.

What is a trail?

Basically a trail is a route through the forest which has been opened, not just marked. If you can see a place

where somebody has passed, cutting a few rattan branches and marking trees with a machete, that is not a

trail. You should record this as 'human cut marks' on the 'tally data' datasheet. A trail is something that you

should be able to walk yourself without thinking to look for marks and without using a machete unless

something has recently fallen.

A major trail is a route which has been used for some time, where there is a visible line on the forest floor

free of leaves and vegetation. A recent trail is a place where a new trail has been cut. You will see the

stumps of plants in the trail and an effort has been made to cut them all in order to make walking easier.

Pages 3-6: Point data This page is to record point features (things that exist at a single place, for which you need GPS data).

These are individual traps, cut tree, signs of NTFP collection (mainly rattan) and camps. You will often need

more than one of these sheets for a quadrat so take four and, if you finish any of the tables, start a new

sheet.

Individual Traps

Please see the section on trap-lines above.

Cut trees.

Record cut timber trees only if they are recently cut (not rotten). Usually you should record only the

following features:

The stump of the tree.

Pieces of sawn timber, including the outer parts of the trunk, which are usually discarded in the forest.

If you know the species of tree, write the name, but do not worry if you do not know.

Fill in a row for every tree. If there are 2 less than 5 metres apart, just write the same co-ordinates again.

Signs of NTFP collection.

There are many possible signs of collection of non-timber forest products but at the moment, the only

useful ones we can think of to record in a standardized fashion are

1. the shaved-off pieces of rattan bark left by rattan collectors. If you find piles of bark less than 10m

apart, record as a single waypoint.

2. Evidence of 'La non' (Licuala) species collection. This means signs of a lot of cutting of la non leaves.

If only one or two leaves have been cut, record as 'human cut marks' on the tally data sheet.

If you see other interesting signs you can record them.

Camps

Please record both traps in good condition and old camps. Traps in good condition are those which can

easily be occupied again with none or minor repairs. They may be missing the plastic sheet, however. Small

camps, roofed only with leaves should also be recorded. In general, if the camp can be re-occupied with

only a new roof, it should be recorded as 'good'. If some new wood is likely to be needed it should be

recorded as 'old'.

If there are traps stored within the camp, please record the number.

People

Please fill in one row for each group of people. Please record the number of people in the group and circle

the activity which they are going to the forest for, even if they are not currently doing anything.

options are:

rattan

bamboo

firewood

medicinal products

fish

gold

other

unknown.

If you meet a camp with people in it, please fill in a row in each table.

Within a Quadrat you are not actually likely to meet many people or camps, which is why there are only 2

rows on the sheet.

Last page: Tally data.

This sheet is to record data where we only need to know how many times you see something within the

quadrat. We do not need GPS points for each one. However you should make a tally: make a mark on the

sheet every time you see one WHILE YOU ARE IN THE FIELD. Otherwise you will forget the total number.

When you finish the quadrat, you can write down the number.

If for any reason, you forget to record something, put a cross in the box when you finish the survey. There is

a big difference between a zero because you weren't looking and a zero because it wasn't there.

Human cut marks

A place where someone has cut a plant with a knife in order to make his way but where no clear trail is

visible. You can make a mark on the sheet every time you see a cut stem. But if you can see both halves of a

stem which has been cut in two, then make only one mark, not two.

This does not include felled timber trees which should be recorded under logging signs. Also if some other

plant (e.g. rattan) has clearly been cut to harvest it, and not just to clear the trail, record this under NTFP

signs.

Feeding sign – for Herbivorous mammals.

Only record if at least 5 leaves have been bitten within a 5m radius. And only if you are sure this is the work

of herbivorous mammals, not insects. It is not always possible to tell but, if more than one species has been

eaten this makes insects less likely, though still possible.

Wild pig nests.

Wild pigs in the Central Annamites make domed nests of big leaves. These are very distinctive if you know

what they look like. If you don't know what they look like, put a cross through this box. Record both fresh

and old nests but only if you can see the nest itself. Don't record a place where you think there was a nest

but no trace is visible.

Ungulate trails

If you see footprints of an ungulate (hoofed mammal) record them on the datasheet but only if at least one

complete hoof is clearly visible. Do not record tracks which are merely disturbed ground.

Do not record the number of individual footprints but try and record the number of animal trails. If it looks

like just one animal has gone past, make only one mark. If a large group of animals (e.g. pigs) have gone

past, still make only one mark because it is not possible to assess how many animals there are with any

accuracy. If you see tracks again later on in the quadrat and they could be the same animal, do not make

another mark. However if the tracks are clearly of a different species, or a very different-sized animal of the

same species, you can make a second mark. You are not expected to identify the species.

Dung

Dung is a valuable kind of sign because its identity can be confirmed with DNA testing. A separate

datasheet will soon be available with guidelines on collecting dung. However, if you find dung which looks

like ungulate dung, please record a tally on this datasheet as well.

Trees with rubbing

Ungulates can rub their bodies or their horns against trees and you can see the marks of the rubbing.

However you should only record if the rubbing is clearly recent. So DO RECORD IF:

1. tree is still alive but shows no signs of healing.

2. There is fresh mud on the tree (tree alive or dead)

3. Tree is dead but a lot of very fine bits of bark are clinging and haven't been completely rubbed off

(you need to learn to recognise this sign. If you are in doubt, do not record)

4. There is hair on the tree (tree alive or dead)

Do NOT record if:

5. Tree is alive and the rubbing has healed (and no hair or fresh mud)

6. Tree is dead and no hair, mud or fine bark still clinging.

Silver pheasant feathers. and Crested argus feathers.

The feathers of male Silver Pheasant and male and female Crested Argus are easy to recognise. Note down

any you see (a feather from any part of the bird). If you find a place where several feathers have been shed

– clearly by the same bird, just make one mark.

Valuable tree species

Recording the presence of some valuable tree species gives an indication of whether the area has been

logged. Recording the presence of young individuals is helpful because if only young individuals are present,

it suggests (but does not confirm) that the larger individuals have been logged. If no individuals are present

it is more likely that the quadrat is just not good habitat for that species.

You should only try and record species which you are confident in identifying, from leaves and bark. Young

trees can usually only be identified based on their leaves whereas, for big trees the leaves are hard to see

and the bark is a better character.

We are using the following species: Gụ lau (Sindora tonkinensis), Kiền Kiền (Hopea pierrei), Lim

(Erythrophloeum fordii) and Chò Đen (Parashorea stellata) and hope to develop a quick and easy guide to

their identification. You can add other species if they are important timber trees in your area.

Note down the number of individual trees you see in each diameter category (<3cm diameter, 3-30cm and

>30cm) as you walk. You are not expected to measure all the trees you see; just measure a few to make

sure you can estimate the diameter with some accuracy. After that you can tell by eye which category they

are in and this will be enough. You do not need to assess the distance of the trees from the trail but of

course you should try not to count the same tree twice and do not include trees which are clearly outside

the quadrat.

Understorey plant indicator species

We hope to develop a list of understorey plant indicator 'species'. In fact some of these may not be species

but higher taxa where the individual species are hard to identify. We hope to develop a final list later in

2011 with identification notes. For now, please work out your own list of indicator species.

Habitat photos.

To give a basic idea of the habitat in each square, we

suggest this simple method which requires a compass

and a camera.

Visit each of the four corners of the quadrat. Because

GPS units are not 100% accurate, the best way is to do

the following: Set your GPS to give an alarm when you

are within 10m of the corner. As soon as you hear the

alarm, stop immediately and take the photographs in exactly that place.

It is really important not to walk around choosing the right place to stand. You do not need to get to zero

metres of the point unless you plan to do this at every point.

If you really find that one corner is completely inaccessible, then visit the centre point of the quadrat

instead and take a reading there.

Take one photo in each of the 4 cardinal compass directions (N, S, E, W) and another one straight up (U).

Write down the codes of the photo in the space provided.

Except for the Up photo, tilt the camera so that it is about parallel with the ground and keep it at normal

eye-height when you are standing (see figure).

Appendix 1: How to randomly number the squares within your study area in ArcGIS

Create the grid

1. Download create fishnet tool by Robert Nicholas:

http://arcscripts.esri.com/details.asp?dbid=12807 Install it and run it.

2. In the boxes 'lower left corner' choose a point outside your study area to the southwest. Choose a

sensible point. So for example if you are using UTM format, you might start a grid at 797000,

1764000, not at 797567, 1764331.

3. In the boxes 'rows' and 'column's enter large enough numbers that the grid will cover your whole

study area

4. For 'width' and 'height' of each cell enter 1 kilometre.

5. Check that the grid covers your whole study area.

Select the squares whose centres fall within your study area.

6. You should be able to use the ArcGIS tool 'select layer by location'. Choose the grid as your input

layer. Select overlap type 'HAVE_THEIR-CENTER_IN' and select the polygon of your study area (see

stage 1) as your selection layer.

However I have not been able to get this tool to work in my copy of ArcGIS. Instead I simply selected all the

squares which had their center within the study area and copied and pasted them into a new layer which I

was editing.

7. Save the layer of grid cells whose centers fall within the study area.

Randomly number the squares

8. Open the attribute table for the layer of grid cells whose centers fall within the study area. Check

the total number of squares. (call this number S)

9. Go to http://www.random.org/ and select 'integer set generator'

10. Generate 1 set with S unique random integers in each. Each integer should have a value between 1

and S. In step 2 (display option) UNCHECK 'sort the members of each set in ascending order (this is

important). Check 'use commas to separate the set members'. The other check boxes don't matter.

Go. Copy the results into a txt file and save it.

11. Import the text file in Excel using commas as separators. Use the Paste Special – Transpose function

to convert your data from columns to rows. Save as a dbf file.

12. Open this dbf file in arcGIS

13. Right-Click on the layer of grid cells whose centers fall within the study area and select 'Joins and

relates' Join to the dbf file using the ID columns in both layers.

14. Open the attribute table of the layer. There should now be a column with a random number for

each square. Use this column to label the squares on the map.

You should be able to produce a map like this one (of the Bach Ma extension area)

SURVEY DETAILS: (one copy per quadrat)

1km grid Square no. ………… co-ordinates of SW corner X………………. Y……………….

COMPLETE AT START OF SURVEY

(when you enter the quadrat)

Start Date: (dd/mm/yy) Start time: Location name.

1km Square type: Random square □. Saola record square □ PERSONNEL Researcher: Guide: Others: EQUIPMENT Camera ID: GPS Unit ID: Co-ordinate system: Tracklog ID:

COMPLETE IF YOU HAVE TO STOP AND RE-START YOUR SURVEY (e.g. to follow an animal trail; to take a break >10min; because of heavy rain, etc) Stop time1: Date: Time: Re-start: Date: Time: Stop time 2: Date: Time: Re-start: Date: Time: Stop time 3: Date Time: Re-start: Date: Time:

COMPLETE AT END OF SURVEY (when you leave the quadrat)

End Date: (dd/mm/yy). End time:

General habitat description % of the square covered by:

young forest: 0-10%□, 10-50%□, 50-90%□, 90-100%□ old forest: 0-10%□, 10-50%□, 50-90%□, 90-100%□ Other: 0-10%□, 10-50%□, 50-90%□, 90-100%□ Please describe other habitats found within the square Information from local guide (record only if he is sure of the answer!) Main habitat types in quadrat in local language (list) Has the area in this quadrat been cleared in the past?

Yes □, no □, partly □, don't know□.

If the area was cleared, in what year did people clear the area?.......................... (you can give a range e.g. 1970-1975 or 'before 1940') If the area was cleared, in what year did people leave the area?.........................

LINE DATA (usually need only one per quadrat) Square no. Traps: Lines of traps (one row for each line. For individual traps record next page) meet line line start line end TRAPS FENCE Notes

WPT

Co-ords WPT Co-ords WPT

Co-ords Type No. (cond)

Snares only Type Cond.

w. rnr ori

X X X sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

s............

g...........

o...........

n. l.

y n

v h

struc brush none

old good

Y Y Y

X X X sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

s............

g...........

o...........

n. l.

y n

v h

struc brush none

old good

Y Y Y

X X X sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

s............

g...........

o...........

n. l.

y n

v h

struc brush none

old good

Y Y Y

X X X sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

s............

g...........

o...........

n. l.

y n

v h

struc brush none

old good

Y Y Y

X X X sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

s............

g...........

o...........

n. l.

y n

v h

struc brush none

old good

Y Y Y

Human trails(one row for each trail. If a trail divides, record a new row for the forking trail)

meet line line start line end Trail type

Notes

WPT Co-ords WPT Co-ords WPT Co-ords

X X X major recent

Y Y Y

X X X major recent

Y Y Y

X X X major recent

Y Y Y

X X X major recent

Y Y Y

X X X major recent

Y Y Y

X X X major recent

Y Y Y

X X X major recent

Y Y Y

X X X major recent

Y Y Y

X X X major recent

Y Y Y

POINT DATA (take 4 copies of this page per quadrat) Square no. Individual traps (one row for each trap)

Trap type WPT Co-ordinates Condition Snares only Notes

wire rnr? orient.n

sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

X set good old

normal large

y n

vertical horiz

Y

sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

X set good old

normal large

y n

vertical horiz

Y

sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

X set good old

normal large

y n

vertical horiz

Y

sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

X set good old

normal large

y n

vertical horiz

Y

sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

X set good old

normal large

y n

vertical horiz

Y

sn, sq, sp, nt, ol, os

X set good old

normal large

y n

vertical horiz

Y

Cut trees (one row for each tree)

WPT Co-ords Stump? Stump diameter (cm)

sawn timber?

other sign? (please describe)

Species (if known)

X y n

y n

Y

X y n

y n

Y

X y n

y n

Y

X y n

y n

Y

Signs of NTFP collection (one row for each place where sign is found)

WPT co-ordinates rattan bark shavings

other (please describe forest product and sign)

X

Y

X

Y

X

Y

Camps

WPT Coords no. traps status

old

good

old

good

People

WPT Coords no. activity

mây, tre, củi khô, dược liệu, cá, làm vàng, khác, không rõ

mây, tre, củi khô, dược liệu, cá, làm vàng, khác, không rõ

TALLY DATA (one copy per quadrat) Square no. Record how many you see within the Quadrat (no waypoints needed)

Item Tally Total

Human cut marks

Herbiv. mammal feeding sign

Ungulate trails

Dung

Trees with rubbing

Silver pheasant feathers

Crested argus feathers

Valuable tree species

diameter Go Kien Lim Cho den ??

> 3cm

3 – 30 cm

>30 cm

Understorey plant indicator species Species/type Score Species/type Score Species/type Score Species/type Score

Mon Voc Bim Lo O ...

Rang rang Chuoi rung La Lot ...

Giang Doac ... ...

May nuoc la non ... ...

Habitat photographs

SW SE NE NW Centre

X X X X X

Y Y Y Y Y

Photo codes Photo codes Photo codes Photo codes Photo codes

N N N N N

S S S S S

E E E E E

W W W W W

U U U U U