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~ ' ~( • <br />• ~II1~~IIIIII ~~~~'ll <br />INTER-OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE <br />Date: 12/15/88 <br />To: H.B. Humphries <br />From: W. Agnew <br />Subject: POSTMINE VEGETATION ANALYSIS NO-SEED PLOTS (19881NVENTORY) <br />Methods <br />Herbaceous plant canopy cover, primary production, and woody stem densities were <br />measured in 1988 on non-seeded plots and adjacent seeded plots in Derringer and Enfield <br />Pits (1985 reclaim areas). Three permanent 100-m. transacts were established in 1986 and <br />sampled yearly on seeded and non-seeded plots in each pit in range sites A & B. <br />Herbaceous plant canopy cover and percent mulch cover were estimated by species using <br />the point-hit technique (Optical Point Bar). Each 100-meter permanent line transact was <br />estimated at each site and 10 observations recorded along each line transact at 10-meter <br />interval (total 100 contacts/transact). <br />Annual herbaceous primary production was estimated by clipping plots (20 m interval) in <br />each reclaim area (both range site A and B). One-quarter-meter plots were clipped (total), <br />weighed with a spring scale, placed into a labeled paper sack, and brought to the laboratory <br />for drying and weighing. Oven drying was performed at 50 degrees centigrade fora 24- <br />hourperiod. <br />Woody stem density was calculated using the point-center-quarter (PCO) method. Five <br />PCO's were conducted on each line transact at 20-m spacing. Distances from the center of <br />each PCO to the nearest live stem in each quarter was recorded and the plant species <br />identified. <br />Results and Discussion <br />Herbaceous canopy cover on no-seed plots was 57.2% compared to 59.8% on adjacent <br />seeded plots in 1988 (Table 1). The cover percentage increase in 1988 compared to 1987 <br />was 24°~ and 25% on no-seed and seeded plots, respectively. Cover percentages ranged <br />from a high of 62.5 on seeded plots in Enfield Pit to a low of 53.7 in the Derringer Pit no- <br />seed area. Litter cover decreased in 1988 on seeded and non-seeded plots (Table 1). <br />Litter cover averaged 26.9°.6 and 28.2°.6 on non-seeded and seeded plots, respectively. <br />Herbaceous yearly perennial plant production was higher on seeded areas than non-seeded <br />areas (Table 2). In addition, plant production was higher on seeded and non-seeded <br />