Table XLI. Mean values of cover percentage classes for cryptogams in 1-m' 

 quadrats in three plant communities along the hot-pipe vegetation survey 



transect. 



Species 



Hylocomium splendens 

 Polytrichum spp. 

 Sphagnum spp. 

 Other mosses 



Peltigera spp. 

 "Reindeer" lichens 

 Other ground lichens 



Macrofungi, undifferentiated 



0.2 



0.1 



0.1 



* Scale 1-10, where 1 = 1-10% cover, 2 = 11-20% cover, etc. 



and on the basis of firsthand knowledge of their character in the natural vegetation. Dominant 

 species are defined as those members of the tree and low tree/high shrub strata having C-A values 

 of five or more. Secondary dominants include members of all strata below the tree stratum with 

 similarly high values. In the case of shrubs a mean C-A value of five in 0.02-ha quadrats, a mean 

 stem number of 6, or a mean cover percent of 20 in 1-m^ quadrats, depending on the measure used, 

 was necessary to qualify. Herbaceous members of the secondary dominants category are those 

 with a mean of 20 or more stems/1-m' quadrat. A cryptogam species or grouping was placed in 

 this category if it occupied an average of 40% or more of the 1-m^ quadrats. 



Trees and shrubs with C-A values of three or four were placed in the intermediate species 

 category. Herbs with stem count averages between approximately 5 and 20 were also assigned 

 to this category. The same method, but with progressively lower values, was used to place the 

 remaining species in their respective categories. 



Table XLII shows, in the dominant species and secondary dominants rows, the distinctiveness 

 of each of the communities. The birch community, with five species, and the spruce community, 

 with five species plus the grouping various mosses, have no species in common. The intermediate 

 species community, on the other hand, comprises three species characteristic of the birch 

 community and two characteristic of the spruce community. 



There is a general increase in diversity of species from the birch to the spruce communities. 

 This is accompanied by a considerable increase in the total amount of plant material. 



108 



