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2.3 COVER SAMPLING <br />• Cover date were collected using a point intercept technique. At each random sample point, a 50m <br />transact was stretched from the point to a random dircetion. Along the transact et 2m intervals, <br />a pair of points spaced 1 m apart were projected downward (or upward for overhanging canopy); <br />for each point, the plant species, if ems, intercepted was recorded If no plant was hit by the <br />projected point, either soil, litter, or rock interception was recorded. Percent cover by plant <br />species or soil, litter, or rock was calculated by dividing the number of hits on each by the total <br />number of points projected. Far example, a plant species with 2 hits out the 50 points <br />projected along a particular transact, has e 4 percent cover ((2/50 )x 100), and a species <br />with 13 hits out of ten 50-point transacts has a 2.6 percentcover ((13/(10 x 50)) x 100]. <br />I n the cover date tables below, plant species with entries of 0.0 in the Average Cover column are <br />those that occured within the vegetation type but not in sufficient abundance io be encountered <br />quantitatively (i.e., had no hits). <br />2.4 PRODUCTION SAMPLING <br />Measurements of above-ground plant biomass production were made from weights of plant <br />materiel clipped from 1 square meter circular plots. These plots were located by finding the <br />• random points identified on the maps as closely es possible, then pacing a random number of <br />steps (1 to 5) in a random direction. Within each production plot, ell herbaceous plants were <br />clipped et ground level, end separated by species for the major texa present; minor plants were <br />grouped by lifefarm (i.e. ,annual farbs, annual gram inoids, perennial (orbs, end perennial <br />greminoids) end provenance (native or introduced). Plants clipped end separated were placed <br />in labeled paper begs end returned to the laboratory. There they wereoven-dried et 105 <br />degrees centigrade for 24 hours end then weighed to the nearest 0.1 gm. Plant species showing <br />0.0 Average Production in the date tables had so little biomass in the samples that the average <br />was less than 0.05 gm / sq.m. (rounded to 0.0). <br />2.5 SHRUB DENSITY SAMPLING <br />Density of shrubs (and tree saplings less then or equal to 1 inch diameter at breast height) was <br />measured in e 1 m x 50 m belt transact originating at a random point and extending in a random <br />direction. All shrubs with root crowns emerging inside the belt transact were counted by <br />species. Along with the shrub density sampling, heights (in centimeters) typical of each shrub <br />species were noted et each sample transact. Plant species with 0.0 average density recorded in <br />fhe date tables are those with average density of less than 0.05 that have bean hence rounded to <br />-3- <br />