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sampling design consisted of groups of ten points sampled at 10 ft. intervals along a 100 ft. <br />transect to achieve 100 points per transect. Thirty to 50 transects were sampled. Each group <br />of ten points, with a 10cm interval between each point, was oriented such that 10 points were <br />projected vertically downward (or upward for overhanging canopy) perpendicular to the <br />transect. At each point, the first contact of a plant species was recorded as a "hit ". If the hit <br />was a living perennial, the vegetation was moved to see if a subsequent perennial was "hit" <br />and recorded separately as a second "hit ". In cases where vegetation was not contacted, <br />either bare ground (soil), litter, or rock hits were recorded. Each hit represented one percent <br />cover for a transect. For example, a plant species that was contacted 15 times on a transect <br />had an estimated cover of 15 percent for that particular transect ((15/100) x 100). Since the <br />points were situated systematically along the randomly - located transects, each transect (i.e., <br />100 data points) represented an observation in the sample. Therefore, the estimated mean <br />cover for a particular species in the vegetation type as a whole was derived by summing the <br />percent cover measured on each transect and dividing by the total number of transects <br />sampled. <br />The point- intercept technique was also used to collect vegetation cover data in the irrigated <br />pasture type, although the sampling design was modified to accommodate the inherently <br />greater cover found in the type as compared to that encountered in the sagebrush. The <br />samples were collected on July 13 through 20, 1999. The sampling design consisted of 10 <br />points, sampled at 10 ft. intervals along a 100 ft. transect to achieve 100 points per transect. A <br />minimum of 30 transects, distributed throughout the type, were sampled. The 10 points were <br />spaced 10 cm. apart perpendicular to the transect. At each point, the first contact of a plant <br />species was recorded as a "hit'. Secondary hits of perennial vegetation was not collected as <br />moving the vegetation disturbed the next adjacent "hit' and would have biased the outcome of <br />first "hit' measurements. In cases where vegetation was not contacted, either bare ground <br />(soil), litter, or rock hits were recorded. Percent cover by plant species, or soil, litter, or rock <br />was calculated by dividing the number of hits on each by the total number of points sampled <br />per transect and expressing the result as a percentage. The estimated mean cover for a <br />particular constituent in the vegetation type as a whole was derived by summing the percent <br />cover measured on each transect and dividing by the total number of transects sampled. <br />August 2013 (PR 08) 2.04.10 -22 <br />