USDA Forest Service CNVSP FIELD GUIDE Page 2 of 22
USDA Forest Service
Southwestern Region
Fire and Range
Common Non-Forested Vegetation Sampling Protocol (CNVSP)
FIELD GUIDE
November 2013
EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS NEEDED
FOR TRANSECTS Frequency, Dry-Weight-Rank (DWR), Ground and Woody Fuel Load cover:
1. Quadrat frame: A 40X40cm(40cm2) frame with a 10x10cm(10cm2) nested square and three sharpened Points
2. GPS unit
3. Compass
4. Tablet PC or Data sheets with Clipboard and pencil
5. Small Tape Measure for FETCH, if applicable
6. Clinometer for slope
7. Go no Go gage for Fuel categories (see design in Appendix B)
FOR CLIP PLOTS:
1. Clippers
2. Paper Sacks (at least 12)
3. Sharpie to write on sacks
4. Spring scales (100g and 300g recommended)
FOR PHOTOS:
1. Digital Camera
2. Small Dry Erase Board and Dry Erase Markers
FOR OCULAR MACROPLOT:
1. Tape measure at least 37.2ft long
2. Daubenmire Frame, 40 x 40 cm frame or something similar could be helpful to estimate canopy cover percentages within the macroplot.
3. Clinometer for tree height
OVERVIEW OF SAMPLING METHODS:
The following is a brief overview of the attributes which will be captured in the Common Non-Forested Vegetation Sampling Protocol. This protocol actually combines various monitoring methods used to capture information on a variety of attributes. The combination of methods in this protocol will often suffice for the monitoring of rangeland management actions and treatments as well as providing data needed to operate the PHYGROW vegetation model and BRASS-G Burning Risk Advisory Support System for Grasslands. Measurements are taken along pace transects where the quadrat frame is placed on the ground, at the toe of the sampler’s boot every pace. A total of 200 quadrats are placed long a varying number of transects. Details for collecting the data will follow later in this document.
Every time the frame is placed; several attributes will be recorded.
1) Ground Cover, which is comprised of: basal cover of herbaceous or woody species, woody fuel load classes, bare ground, rock and herbaceous litter (½ inch deep or greater and < ½ inch deep.) will be recorded at each of the 3 sharpened points,
2) Frequency of plants will be recorded in two differing ways, depending upon life form.
a. Rooted Frequency: Herbaceous or woody plants rooted within the quadrats will be recorded.
b. Canopy Frequency: Woody species (shrubs and trees) canopy overhanging the quadrat will be recorded.
The 10X10 quadrat is surveyed first for rooted frequency and canopy frequency, then the 40X40cm quadrat.
3) Dry-Weight-Rank, (DWR), is a ranking of the dominant plants on the site, based on dry weight biomass, which will be recorded for current year’s growth for each 40x40cm quadrat.
4) Production Estimates: At every 20th quadrat placement the, 40X40cm quadrat standing crop of all herbaceous vegetation will be clipped, bagged and the field weight will be recorded. Additionally, bed depth will be estimated. At the 2nd and 8th clipped quadrats; Plant litter and 1 hour fuels within the 40x40cm quadrat will be collected, bagged and field weighed. All bags of materials will be kept to be dried and weighed again to attain an air-dried weight.
5) Optional Woody Species Characterization: Woody plants encountered along transects and/or within Ocular Macroplot will be characterized to represent the site.
6) Optional Canopy Cover by Species: Will be determined within an Ocular Macroplot, consisting of a 10th acre circular plot with 37.2’ radius. This plot can serve as a comparison for Terrestrial Ecosystem Survey (TES) or Terrestrial Ecosystem Unit Inventory (TEUI) data.
PRE-SAMPLING PROCEDURES
Determining Sample Site Location, and Transect Design:
The area that will be sampled should represent the vegetation of the site. The use of Terrestrial Ecosystem Survey, Terrestrial Ecosystem Unit Inventory or Ecological Site Descriptions can be helpful when determining an appropriate sampling location. The Transects should remain in one TES/TEUI unit or ecological site. If the area is to serve as a key area regarding rangeland management, such as grazing management, the sampling site will meet the definition of a key area for range monitoring objectives. (Interagency Technical Reference 1734-4). The term benchmark is also often used when describing sampling sites used for long term effectiveness monitoring.
The area to be sampled may have been previously sampled, for example using the Parker 3 step method. If the site has been sampled for rangeland management objectives previously, the macroplot should be placed in order to provide data still representative of the area and similar in value for decision making. Although there is no direct crosswalk between Parkers and these methods, similarity in the selection of the sampling location can assist in the interpretation of data. As a previous method is overlain by a new method, correlating the sampling area can be helpful. It is best to have several transects rather than one long transect. A common design scheme is a total of four transects with 50 quadrats each, two transects are placed on either side of the original Parker transects. Other transect designs can be utilized as well. A diagram of an example sampling design is provided in Appendix C. A diagram of the specific sampling design including transect layout should be recorded for each monitoring location.
If the selected site has not served for sampling previously some guidance for lying out the transects is provided. Pick a bearing or azimuth in which the transects will run so that representative vegetation will be sampled and the transects all remain within the vegetation type to be sampled. A total of 200 quadrats are recommended. These can be sampled along 1 to 10 transects. (University of Arizona, Extension Report 9043, 1997.)
RECORD:
· Starting latitude and longitude or UTMs at beginning of Transect(s). At a minimum, the beginning of the first transect should be recorded.
· Date
· Examiner names
· Slope of the site, in percent
· Aspect of the slope (direction in which the slope is facing)
· Bearing/Azimuth of Transect(s) in Notes Section
· 2 Digital Photos:
PHOTOS:
A minimum of 2 photos will be taken. Photo 1 is a landscape view taken from the beginning of the first transect. The photo captures the landscape view of the transect which is going to be read. Photo 2 is a landscape view taken from the end of the last transect. This photo captures the landscape view of the transect which has just been completed. These two photos combined show the macroplot where data is collected. Include in each photo, a dry erase board or other form of identification in the lower right corner of the picture (board should not take up more than 10% of picture) with the following information in this order:
A Dry-Erase white board will be in the photos; it is used to label the photo in the following format: Date (YYYY_MM_DD), Region number, Forest number, District number, Allotment number, Pasture Number, Area or Key area number and cardinal direction of photo and ending with either BEG or END for pictures at the beginning of the first transect or at the end of the last transect, if multiple transects are sampled.
Example:
2009_04_06_030803_78965_002_007_NW_BEG
Where: 2009_04_06 is the date (April 6, 2009)
0803 is the Forest number and District number
78965 is the Allotment number (a name can work here as
well)
02 is the pasture Number (a name can work here as well)
07 is the Area Number (a name can work here as well)
NW (North West) is the cardinal Direction the photo is facing
BEG means the picture was taken at the beginning of the
First Transect
If you do not have a Forest or District number use some sort of identification of area i.e. BLM NM or V-VAZ.
The photos will be saved using a naming convention identical to the picture identification used on the dry erase board.
TRANSECT SAMPLING:
At each pace, place the quadrat by centering the frame in front of and touching your toe.
Ground Cover
Closely examine each tine or sharpened point on the quadrat frame. Record what is located directly underneath the end of each tine from the list below. If the point hits the BASE of a plant, record the species of that plant. You will note there are two classes of herbaceous litter, based on depth to be recorded. Woody material is also recorded if the point hits woody material. Woody material is measured based on fuel load categories.
1. Bare ground (soil particles, < 2mm (1/8th inch) in diameter).
2. Litter < ½ inch (any dead grass not attached to base, dead leaves not attached, needles) which < ½ inch deep.
3. Litter > or = 1/2 inch deep.
4. 1 hour fuel (woody particles < or = 0.25 inch in diameter)
5. 10 hour fuel (woody particles > 0.25 inch and < or = 1” in diameter.)
6. 100 hour fuel (woody particles > 1” and < or = 3” in diameter.)
7. 1,000 hour fuel (woody particles > 3” in diameter)
8. Species of basal vegetation (the tine must hit the BASE of the
Plant where the plant protrudes from the soil.)
9. Gravel (rocky material > 2mm or 1/8th “ and < or = 3” in diameter).
10. Rock (rocky material > 3” in diameter).
If the sharpened point hits the blade, needle or leaf of any vegetation that is attached to the base of the plant record what is under the blade, needle, leaf or stem. If the tine hits a stump, record the stump using the appropriate fuel category based on diameter. Monitoring sites which were established previously may have differing categories for the rock component. If data has differing rock size categories, those may be retained for use in order to provide for consistent data to base trend upon.
Animal scat, fallen cones and fruits are considered litter. Animal scat will fall into the litter depth criteria. I.e. A cow patty that is more than ½” in depth should be categorized as litter >1/2”. No aerial material is recorded all material must be in contact with the ground.
Optional Fetch
Fetch is not a requirement for data collection. Fetch is the measure from a certain point on the frame to the nearest perennial plant. Fetch may provide information regarding hydrologic patterns. If fetch is to be captured, the following is guidance regarding the attribute.
Measure from the center tine (sharpened point) to the nearest perennial plant base in 360 degrees, (closest plant may be outside the quadrat frame, i.e. behind frame). Record the distance in inches. Measurement can be zero if perennial is against center tine.
Frequency
Using the 10x10cm nested plot, record frequency of plants.
HERBACEOUS
Identify all perennial herbaceous plants to species level which are rooted within plot and record a single “hit” for each species.
ANNUALS:
For all annuals rooted within the plot identify the annual grass/forbs if the species is known. If the annual species is not known record it as an annual forb or an annual grass. To further identify the annual, warm and cool season qualifiers can be used as well. Record a single “hit” for each species.
WOODY/SUCCULENT:
Identify by species the woody or succulent plants, including sub-shrubs and half shrubs, and record if the plant is rooted in the 10cm quadrat or if its canopy covers the10cm quadrat. For example, if a branch overlaps a vertical projection of the quadrat perimeter, record a single “hit” for that species. Be sure to look up, and record tree branches overlapping the vertical projection of the plot.
Using the 40x40cm plot to record frequency
Use the same guidelines as for the 10x10cm quadrat outlined above however, only record species not encountered in the 10X10cm quadrat already.
Dry Weight Rank
DWR provides data regarding species composition by weight. At each placement of the quadrat, the observer decides which three species in the quadrat have the highest yield on a dry weight basis. Dry Weight Rank is based on current year’s growth in the 40x40cm quadrat. The highest yielding species is given a rank of 1, the next highest is given a rank of 2 and the third highest is given a rank of 3. Generally, a rank of 1 corresponds to 70% composition, a rank of 2 corresponds to 20% composition and rank 3 corresponds to 10% composition.
Ranking the dominant plants is usually very repeatable between observers and quick to be observed. When less than three species are encountered in a quadrat, multiple ranks can also be assigned to one species. This calls for assigning more than one rank to some species. Rank combinations when only two species are present could be 1 & 2, (90%), or ranks 2 & 3, (30%), or ranks 1 & 3, (80%). If only one species is encountered in a quadrat it may be given the ranks of 1, 2, and 3.
Plants do not have to be rooted in the quadrat. Hence herbaceous species may be recorded for DWR that were not recorded for frequency. Over hanging vegetation within a vertical projection of the 40x40 cm quadrat perimeter which contributes to the ranking of the top three species is also counted. Only live vegetation is counted. Woody species overhanging the quadrat which are dead are not counted in the DWR. DWR can be used to assess all species or only herbaceous species. Ground rules for selection of species should be well documented to provide for repeatability over time.