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Sampling Vegetation Attributes - Natural Resources Conservation ...

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114<br />

METHODS—Harvest<br />

7. Taking Photographs The directions for establishing photo plots and for taking<br />

close-up and general view photographs are given in Section V.A.<br />

8. <strong>Sampling</strong> Process In addition to collecting the specific studies data, general<br />

observations should be made of the study sites (see Section II.F).<br />

a Determine the transect bearing and select a prominent distant landmark such as<br />

a peak, rocky point, etc., that can be used as the transect bearing point.<br />

b Randomly select the starting point along the transect bearing. Take the specified<br />

number of paces and read the first quadrat.<br />

c Record weights by clipping and weighing all vegetative material for each species<br />

occurring in the quadrat. Samples should be bagged and saved for determining<br />

air-dry weights. Samples from subsequent quadrats should be kept separate.<br />

The following information should be record on each bag: Date, Transect<br />

Number, Quadrat Number, and Species.<br />

When harvesting plants, include all parts of all plants within the quadrat. Exclude<br />

all parts of herbaceous plants and shrubs outside the vertical projection of<br />

the quadrat, even though the base is within the quadrat (see Illustration 23).<br />

d Continue the transect by establishing additional quadrats at specified intervals.<br />

To change the length of the transect, adjust the number of paces between<br />

quadrats.<br />

e Oven-dry samples at 60˚C for 24 hours to determine air-dry weight.<br />

9. Calculations The weights collected for each species per quadrat placement are<br />

recorded on the Production form (see Illustration 22).<br />

a The green weight for each species is totaled for the entire transect and shown in<br />

column 5.<br />

b Column 6 is the total dry weight for each species. This column is totaled at the<br />

bottom of the form for the composition totals.<br />

c Percent composition (Column 11) is calculated by dividing the total dry weight<br />

of each species by the composition totals.<br />

d Columns 4, 7, 8, 9,and 10 are used only for double sampling.<br />

e If plant biomass is collected in grams, it can be easily converted to pounds per<br />

acres if the total area sampled is a multiple of 9.6 ft 2 .

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