Vegetation cover and abundance

The field sampling took place from 24th of July until 20th of August. In total 8 sites were sampled. One site has an extent of 100 m x 100 m. The coordinates of the northwestern corner were taken with a Garmin Montana 650 GPS device with a location inaccuracy of +/- 3m. All sites were divided into 10 x 10 grid cells. Twenty of the grid cells were selected randomly and in each cell was placed a 2 m x 2 m plot. The sites as well as the plots were directed northwards. The further division of the 2 m x 2 m plots into four subplots of 1 m x 1 m allowed a more reliable record of the vegetation data. In each subplot species richness and abundance of all vascular plants and macro lichens were recorded. The abundance was estimated in 10 % steps of total cover. Species with cover less or equal to 1 % were classified as 1 % coverage.