Laserfiche WebLink
Cover Sampling <br />Cover data were collected along 50 m transects using a point -intercept method in which data were <br />recorded as interceptions of a point with a plant species, litter, standing dead plant material, soil, or rock. <br />Plant material produced during the current year and still standing was tallied by species. Litter was <br />considered to be any organic material that had fallen, or had begun to fall to the soil surface. Standing <br />dead was any dead plant material that was produced in previous years but which was still standing and <br />had not lodged or broken off to become litter. Inorganic material greater than 1 cm in diameter was <br />considered rock. The cover sampling points were optically projected using a Cover -Point Optical Point <br />Projection Device developed by ESCO Associates. The 50 m transects were randomly located and <br />randomly oriented in the reclaimed and reference areas. One hundred points were collected along each <br />transect. At each meter along the 50 m length, points were projected 0.5 m to the right and 0.5 to the left <br />of the transect, thus minimizing trampling effects. <br />First hit interceptions were used to calculate absolute top layer foliar cover (see FIRST HIT AVERAGE <br />COVER column in data tables) by dividing the number of interceptions for a particular species or ground <br />cover type by the total number of points taken (100). First hit relative vegetation cover was calculated by <br />dividing first hit absolute cover for each species by the total first hit vegetation cover (see FIRST HIT <br />RELATIVE VEGETATION COVER). All -layer absolute cover (ALL HIT AVERAGE COVER column in data <br />tables) was calculated by dividing all hits (first -hits and additional -hits) for a particular species by the total <br />number of points taken (100). In addition, all -layer relative cover was calculated using all hits for a <br />particular species, divided by the total hits accumulated during sampling of the transect (see ALL HIT <br />RELATIVE VEGETATION COVER). <br />Herbaceous Production Sampling <br />Herbaceous production sampling was accomplished using one-half square meter (0.5 m) circular plots <br />within which all herbaceous growth in a vertical projection was clipped and placed in labeled paper bags. <br />Clipped plant material were grouped into the following lifeforms, bagged and labeled as: <br />- Native Annual / Biennial Forbs <br />- Native Annual Grasses <br />- Native Perennial Forbs <br />- Native Perennial Grasses and Graminoids <br />- Introduced Annual / Biennial Forbs <br />- Introduced Annual Grasses <br />- Introduced Perennial Forbs <br />- Introduced Perennial Grasses <br />Lichens, mosses, and woody plant species present in the sample plot were not collected. Noxious weeds <br />were not collected. Clipped material was returned to the Cedar Creek laboratory and oven dried at 105 °C <br />for 24 hours, then weighed to the nearest 0.1 gm. <br />2 <br />