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Vegetation cover data was collected in the graminoid and forb component of the <br />swale /drainage type using plots and ocular estimates (Cox 1976). The graminoid component <br />comprises approximately 95 percent of the swale /drainage type in the study area and consists <br />of extensive tracts of hydrophytic graminoids. Cattails comprise 3 percent of the <br />swale /drainage type and occur adjacent to stock ponds and in waste ditches and range from <br />less than 0.1 acres to approximately 0.5 acres in size. The data was collected on July 13 <br />through 20, 1999. In keeping with 1987 procedures, a single 50 x 50cm plot (0.25m2) was used <br />for estimating cover at randomly - located sample point. A total of 30 plots were sampled. <br />Ocular estimation involved observation of the vegetation, litter, rock, and bare ground from a <br />vertical perspective within the plot boundaries. The plots were marked with 10cm, 5cm, and <br />2.5cm divisions to facilitate estimates of percent coverage. The cover estimates considered <br />the actual area covered by a particular constituent rather than cover classes or close- fitting <br />polygons, to obtain an estimate of absolute or foliar cover. The estimated mean cover for a <br />particular constituent in the type was derived by summing the cover estimates in each plot and <br />dividing by the total number of plots sampled. <br />The remainder of the swale /drainage type consists of virtually impenetrable thickets of willow. <br />The thickets comprise approximately 2 percent of the swale /drainage type, existing primarily <br />along the CC Ditch. The majority of the willow type ranges in size from approximately 0.1 to 1 <br />acres. In keeping with 1987 procedures, only qualitative estimates of herbaceous and shrub <br />cover were made in this component due to its inherent immeasurability and the lack of <br />pertinent information that would be achieved from quantitative sampling attempts. <br />Plant species frequency or presence was derived by dividing the number of plots or transects <br />at which a species occurred by the total number of plots or transects sampled in each of the <br />three vegetation types for which cover samples were obtained. Products were multiplied by <br />100 to express frequency as a percentage. <br />4.11 Vegetation Production - 1999 Quantitative measurements of vegetation production <br />were made in the sagebrush - 1 (SG -1), sagebrush - 2 (SG -2), sagebrush reference area, <br />dryland pasture reference area, irrigated pasture, irrigated hayland, and swale /drainage <br />vegetation types. <br />August 2013 (PR 08) 2.04.10 -23 <br />