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Task 5. Threatened and Endangered Plants <br />~~ <br />We will review the distributional data available from the U.S. ~y <br />Fish and Wildlife Service (1980, 1983) and the Colorado Natural Heritage ~~,~rl~ <br />Inventory (1983) to determine if there acre federal or state threatened/ ~~'" <br />endangered plants in Los Animas County. The botanic inventory will <br />verify the presence or absence of any federal or state plant of interest. <br />Task 6. Location of Sample Sites <br />All sample sites (for affected and reference areas) will be <br />located by a random process. A grid system will he constructed over a <br />vegetation map of the area to he sampled. Pairs of random numbers will <br />be used as Cartesian coordinates to locate sample points in each mapping <br />unit. Grid cell size will be 200 feet x 200 feet. Within each reference <br />area, sample sites will also be randomly located using pairs of random <br />numbers as Cartesian coordinates. The grid cell size will be 1 m x 1 m. <br />Cover, production, and woody plant density sampling will occur at <br />the same randomly located point. Additionally, the cover transect will be <br />randomly oriented. The production sample plot will be located by randomly <br />selecting numbers from 0 to 50 that represent 1 meter intervals along the <br />cover transect. The woody plant density quadrat will be established <br />along the cover transect. <br />Z <br />Task 7. Cover Sampling <br />For cover estimation we will use the point-intercept method ~~~ <br />(Mueller-Dombois and Ellenberg 1974). This system will generate total ~, <br />percent cover by species, as well as percent cover for rock, litter, ,`.q <br />and bare ground. !~'" <br />Each cover transect will be randomly located and oriented. <br />Fifty data points will be sampled at 1 m intervals along a 50 m transect. <br />Each transect (i.e., fifty data points) comprises one "sample." At each <br />point, the first hit or interception along a vertical projection (upward <br />first if overstorv vegetation is present) will be recorded as vegetation <br />(by species), rock, soil, or litter. Vegetation intercepted below the <br />first hit will be recorded separately; only first hits will be used in <br />calculating percent cover. Second hits can be used in calculation of a <br />measure of relative cover by species. Points are projected by means of <br />fine cross-hairs scribed on a sighting device rigidly mounted to a heavy <br />tripod leveled at each point. <br />Task 8. Production Sampling <br />Herbaceous production will be estimated for each vegetation <br />type and reference area by clipping a statistically adequate number of <br />quadrats up *.o a maximum number of 50 quadrats for the affected area and <br />30 maximum for the reference area. Production quadrat size and shape will <br />-2- <br />