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Barren Ridge • Pre-Mine Area <br />~~ Total Cover: A total of 14 transects were made on the barren ridge <br />site. calculation of the sample size revealed that due to the varia- <br />bility of the herbaceous cover an additional 74 field days of sampling <br />•would have been required to characterize the pre-mine and reference <br />areas. Using total plant cover, it was discovered that the NBO sample <br />size would be within acceptable limits. The decision was therefore made <br />to use total plant cover as an index of similarity instead of the <br />herbaceous cover component due to obvious limitations of time and manpower. <br />Likewise, similarity can be demonstrated for total cover as easily as <br />for herbaceous cover. Total cover is therefore used for describing <br />plant cover and for statistical comparisons for this type. <br />Pre-mine total cover on the 7 transects on this site produced a mean <br />total plant cover of 3.57 percent with a variance of 1.29 percent. The <br />required sample size at N80 was found to be 4.14 samples: The pre-mine <br />total plant cover sample size was considered to be acceptable. <br />~_• <br />The percent plant cover summary for the barren ridge vegetation type in <br />the pre-mine area is shown in Table 5. <br />- Shrub Density. A sample size of 4 transects were taken to evaluate <br />shrub density on the barren ridge pre-mine site. Mean shrub density was <br />found to be 65.75 shrubs per 50 square meters. Variance was found to be <br />• 139.58. The required sample size at N80 was found to be 1.32•samples. <br />The p're-mine shrub density was considered to be acceptable. <br />The shrub density summary for the barren ridge vegetation type in the <br />- pre-mine area is shown in Table 6. <br />Herbaceous Production. A total of 12 transects were taken on the <br />barren ridge pre-mine site to evaluate herbaceous production. Mean <br />herbaceous production was found to be 0.380 grams per square quarter <br />• <br />.. 7 <br />. $ {~c ~c I3iC. ,.~ <br />.+. ._ <br />