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• INTRODUCTION <br />Quantitative sampling of reclaimed areas at Seneca Coal Company's (SCC) Seneca II Mine was <br />undertaken in July 2002 by ESCO Associates to facilitate SCC's continuing monitoring of the <br />progress of these areas in relation to revegetation performance standards. Methods, sample <br />areas, and sample sizes were those specified by SCC. <br />METHODS, <br />Reclamation Units and Sampling Locations <br />The reclamation sampling units sampled at the Seneca II Mine in 2002 are shown on Map 1, <br />"2002 Vegetation Monitoring Locations". The reclamation areas sampled in 2002 were the 1995, <br />1998, and 2000 reclamation, along with the grazing units referred to as PECOCO pasture and <br />Wadge pasture. <br />Reference Area Sampling <br />The Mountain Brush and Sagebrush reference areas were sampled to provide data for <br />comparison with reclaimed area data. A potential reference area first sampled in 2001 <br />corresponding to the Alkali Sagebrush/Western Wheatgrass vegetation type that is prevalent on <br />• the heavy soils of the area was again monitored in 2002. Reference Area sampling locations are <br />shown on Map 1, "2002 Vegetation Monitoring Locations". <br />Cover Sampling <br />Cover data were collected along 50 m transects using a point intercept method in which data <br />were recorded as interceptions of a point with plant species, litter, standing dead plant material, <br />soil, or rock. Plant material produced during 2002 and still standing was tallied by species. Litter <br />was considered to be any organic material that had fallen, or had begun to fall to the soil surface. <br />Standing dead was any dead plant material that was produced in previous years but which was <br />still standing and had not lodged or broken off to become litter. Inorganic materials greater than 1 <br />cm in diameter were considered rock. The cover sampling points were optically projected using a <br />Cover-Point Optical Point Projection Device developed by ESCO Associates. The 50 m transects <br />were randomly located and oriented in the reclaimed and reference areas. One evenly <br />distributed hundred points were collected along each transect. A pair of points were collected <br />every meter with points sampled on opposite sides of each transect, 0.5 m from the transect. <br />First hit interceptions were used to calculate absolute top layer foliar cover (see COVER column <br />. in data tables) by dividing the number of interceptions for a particular species or ground cover <br />type by the total number of points taken (100). First hit relative vegetation cover was calculated <br />by dividing first hit absolute cover for each species by the total first hit vegetation cover. All-layer <br />