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INTRODUCTION <br />Quantitative sampling of Woody Plant Density areas in the reclaimed areas at Seneca Coal <br />Company's (SCC) Seneca IIW Mine was undertaken between July 20 and September 2, 2011 by <br />ESCO Associates to facilitate SCC's continued monitoring of the progress of these areas in <br />relation to revegetation performance standards. Methods, sample areas, and sample sizes were <br />those specified by SCC. <br />METHODS <br />Woody Plant Density Area Sampling <br />Woody Plant Density areas and sample locations for the Seneca IIW Mine in 2011 are shown on <br />Map 1, "2011 Woody Plant Density Monitoring Locations." <br />Woody Plant Density samples were collected along 50 m transects located at a total of 82 <br />randomly located samples. These included 50 samples located in the Phase III BRB 1 Woody <br />Plant Concentration Areas and 32 samples distributed throughout the remaining Seneca IIW Mine <br />Woody Plant Concentration areas. All trees, shrubs and subshrubs with root crowns located <br />within the boundaries of 2 X 50 m quadrats (belt transects) were tallied according to species and <br />life stages as either seedling, mature, or dead. The presence of dead individuals was recorded <br />but did not contribute to Woody Plant Density calculations. <br />Lifeforms Used in Data Presentation <br />To enhance understanding of collected data, all data and summary tables are organized by <br />lifeform. Lifeform categories used here reflect growth habit and provenance (place of origin). <br />Woody Plant categories observed in 2011 were: native trees and native shrubs. Dead woody <br />plants were not included in total density statistics. <br />Plant Species Listing <br />Scientific names used follow Weber and Wittman (1996); common names cited are found in <br />Beetle (1970), Nickerson et al. (1976), or Soil Conservation Service (1979). Note that all big <br />sagebrush plants encountered were referred to as Seriphidium tridentatum. <br />Statistical Methods <br />Sampling was conducted at randomly located sites. Random map points for sampling locations <br />were generated using ESRI ArcMap 9.3 software and Hawth's Analysis Tools for <br />ArcGIS (Beyer 2004). Garmin GPS60 units (accuracy to 3 m) and topographic maps were used in <br />3 <br />