Evo Vegetation

The average vegetation cover of 16 sample quadrats of 2 m² each.

Altogether 16 sample quadrats, each 2 m² (1.41 x 1.41 m) in area, were marked out systematically (4 x 4 design) on the 30 x 30 m sub-plot. The location of the quadrat was moved only in cases where there was an exceptional surface (e.g. path or large stone) occupying more than 20% of the area. In addition, four 10 x 10 m quadrats (A?D) were marked out to give four 100 m² areas. These areas provide vegetation data representing the Common Sample Area (= 400 m²), which is used in all countries participating in the ICP Forest monitoring programme.

The vegetation inventory was carried out during July?August. The cover percentage of the individual plant species was assessed visually using the following scale: 0.01 (solitary or very sparsely growing shoots), 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, ?99, 100%. The bottom layer (mosses, liverworts and lichens), the field layer (< 50 cm vascular plants: herbs, grasses, sedges, dwarf shrubs and tree seedlings) and the shrub layer (50?150 cm) were inventoried. Plants growing on stones, stumps or fallen stems were excluded. The cover of needle and leaf litter, dead plant material, dead branches, fallen tree stems, stumps, bare soil and stones was also assessed.

A 2 m² frame divided into 100 small quadrats by a net of elastic strings was used in the assessment of the plant cover. ?An open frame? without a net was placed on sites where a tree, shrubs or high vegetation were growing. The cover of withered early summer species (e.g. Anemone nemoralis) was assessed according to their probable maximum biomass. Samples of unknown plant species (mainly bryophytes and lichens) were later identified on the basis of microscopic characteristics.