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also sampled for woody plant density. Details of the inventory methods were <br /> discussed with the staff of the Division of Mined Land Reclamation before the <br /> initiation of field work. <br /> Vegetation Cover. Vegetation cover was measured along line-point transects. <br /> Transects were randomly located on a map of the study area before sampling <br /> began. At each transOct location a fifty-foot tape was stretched parallel to <br /> the ground between two metal stakes. At each one-foot mark on the tape a <br /> pin was projected verti ally downward until a first "hit". Hits were recorded <br /> as either plant species, rock, litter, or bare ground. <br /> From these transects a,species list and relative frequency of occurrence were <br /> tabulated. These are presented in Table 1. <br /> Herbaceous Production. At each randomly located sampling site, a one meter <br /> square gradrat was placed on the ground. Herbaceous vegetation was clipped <br /> within each quadrat to ground level and segregated by life form. Woody <br /> species were not clipped. Periodically throughout each sampling day, samples <br /> of each life form were collected to determine oven-dry moisture content. <br /> Green weights, time of day, and sample location were recorded for all retained <br /> moisture samples. All production data presented in Table 2 are reported as <br /> oven dry weight equival' nts. <br /> Woody Plant Density. IIn the aspen and mountain shrub types, woody plant <br /> densities were measured using belt transects. Transects in the aspen were five <br /> meters wide by fifteen meters long. Only live individuals were counted. For <br /> species such as snowberry, discrete clumps were counted as a single individual. <br /> In the mountain shrub type, transects were two by fifteen meters because <br /> shrub densities were considerably higher and a larger transect size was not <br /> necessary. Woody plant density data is presented in Table 2. <br /> -2- <br />