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At five sample sites in the each of the seven year-old units, current annual production was collected <br />from a '/z m2 quadrat frame placed one meter and 90° to the right (clockwise) of the ground cover <br />transact to facilitate avoidance of vegetation trampled by investigators during sample site location (see <br />Exhibit 1). From within each) quadrat, all above ground current annual vegetation within the vertical <br />boundaries of the frame were clipped and bagged separately by life form as follows: <br />Perennia/ Grass Perennial Forb <br />Annua/ G2ss Annua/Fort <br />shrub Noxious Weeds (if found) <br />All production samples weII!re returned to the lab for drying and weighing. Drying occurred at 105° C <br />until a stable weight was achie4ed (24 hours). Samples were then re-weighed to the nearest 0.1 gram. <br />4.0 <br />Colowyo, as well as several other entities, has found over the past several years that obtaining an <br />adequate sample with densityi belts as the sampling unit is difficult and often impossible in reclaimed <br />areas. Typically this phenomenon is due to highly variable populations and patchiness of developing <br />shrubby areas that can be dominated by different species and age classes. Even sampling to a maximum <br />of 50 samples is often ineffective for capturing this variation. Therefore, because data are to be used for <br />managerial information sampling to adequacy for monitoring is not required for woody plant density. <br />Two sampling methods zire employed for monitoring woody plant density within the revegetated <br />units. The first method, belt t~ansects, was employed when the size of the unit exceeded approximately <br />one acre (all of the units samj~led in 2006). At each sample site in these areas, a 2-meter wide by 50- <br />i <br />meter long (occasionally 4 x 2:5 meter transacts were employed) belt transact was established parallel to <br />the ground cover transact anc~ in the direction of the next sampling point (in a cardinal direction -see <br />Figure 1). Then within each) belt, all woody plants (shrubs, trees, subshrubs, and succulents) were <br />enumerated by species and aite class. Determination of whether or not a plant could be counted was <br />dependent upon the location ~of its main stem or root collar where it exited the ground surface with <br />regard to belt limits. A total of 5, 15 or 20 belt transacts were sampled for each unit. Sample adequacy <br />was determined for <br />The second method, <br />approximately one acre in <br />method. This method invo <br />densities through statistical <br />purposes only. <br />al enumeration, is employed when the size of a unit was less than <br />e. None of [he 11 units evaluated in 2006 was subject to this second <br />total counts of woody plant populations as opposed to estimates of mean <br />sampling. Implementation of the total count technique involved <br />-5 <br />• <br />• <br />• <br />• <br />r, <br />r <br />r <br />