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<br />each sample point was obtained for each species, then separated into major life <br />forms; perennial or annual grasses, perennial or annual (orbs, and shrubs or <br />data analysis. Clipped plants were placed into labeled paper sacks. Along each <br />transect, five quadrats were sampled using the same random placement method <br />used for determining plant cover. No production from woody plants was <br />encountered during the sample process. Following field clipping, the production <br />samples were sent to the laboratory where they were placed in a drying oven <br />for 24 hours at a temperature of 100 degrees C, then the samples were <br />weighed to the nearest tenth of a gram using an electronic balance. Production <br />estimates in this report are reported both in grams per quarter square meter <br />and in pounds per acre. <br />Woody Plant Density. The concept of woody plants has undergone a significant <br />evolution since the Southfield Mine was originally permitted. Examination of the <br />original vegetation data collected in 1980 did not even contain estimates of <br />woody plant densities. At the time the initial vegetation sampling was conducted <br />for this mine, half shrubs were considered by the CMLRD to be woody plants. <br />It was not until the 1980 Coal regulations were issued, which changed this <br />definition and half shrubs were defined as herbaceous vegetation. Since the <br />collection of woody plant density data has spanned a period of regulatory <br />transition, there has been some confusion in the previously collected woody <br />plant density data for the Southfield Mine. Due to this confusion woody plant <br />density data have been collected which include counts of half shrubs, in this <br />evaluation, woody plant densities will be presented in both terms of total woody <br />plants which includes half shrubs, as well as total shrubs which includes only <br />woody plants as defined by the CMLRD regulations. <br />Woody plant density values were obtained by sampling a 50 meter belt <br />transect, described in the methodology for cover and counting all rooted woody <br />plants within one meter, on either side of the tape, with the tape being used as <br />3 <br />