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n <br />• Quantitative/Qualitative Measurements of Reference Areas <br />Reference Areas are undisturbed areas surrounding the mining operation <br />that contain a plant and soil community similar to what one may have expected <br />to have occupied the site prior to disturbance; i.e., a substitute for base- <br />line data. In 1980 eighteen 0.25-m2 quadrats were randomly located outside <br />the mined periphery and sampling techniques duplicated those outlined for the <br />Main Plots. Statistical comparison between reference area data and treatment <br />responses was impossible due to the large variability in biotic and edaphic <br />conditions between these two sites. Qualitatively however, using combined <br />reference area data and USDA Range Site Descriptions provided by the Soil <br />Conservation Service (where available), one can get a feel for the treatments <br />supporting plant communities similar to those originally dominating the area. <br />