354 



RESEARCH METHODS 



by fires or ruthless campers, or in some other way. A care- 

 fully selected and mapped plot is a good financial investment, 

 and. more important still, has scientific and practical value 

 hardly to be estimated in a pecuniary way. An accurate and 

 inexpensive method of permanent staking of sample plots is 

 shown in Figure 129. The metallic pegs, which are approxi- 

 mately 12 inches long and one inch in diameter, are driven at 

 the corner intersections of the guide tapes, which determine the 

 corner locations. Only two iron pegs, located at diagonally op- 

 posite corners, one corner being that from which the mapping was 

 started, are required. They are driven securely into the ground 

 so that only about 2 inches protrudes. As the ends of the 

 protruding iron pegs are blunt, grazing animals will not be 

 injured should they chance to step on them. In order to fa- 

 cilitate ready location of the plot, stakes made from the most 

 durable wood available, about 16 inches long and 2 inches in 

 diameter, are driven close to the metallic pegs. The wooden 

 stakes carry the number of the quadrat, and the label is stamped 

 on the stake located at the corner where the mapping is started. 



It is hardly necessary to point out that the location of the 

 quadrat should be shown on as good a topographic or drainage 

 map as is available; in addition, it should be carefully tied in 

 to a section or a quarter-section corner, or to some natural per- 

 manent obstacle. 



Season and Frequency of Mapping. — On closely utilized 

 range it is important, where possible, to map the vegetation 

 prior to grazing. This is not always convenient, because of the 

 difficulty of identifying species which are neither in flower nor 

 seed. If mapping is done after the range has been grazed, one 

 finds not only that it is difl&cult to determine the identity of the 

 plants, but that the disturbance by stock has tended to obscure 

 the presence of seedlings and other readily injured and incon- 

 spicuous vegetation. Ob\dously the best time to do the mapping 

 is when the vegetation has reached its maximum luxuriance of 

 growth. On high mountain range August is the best month; 

 in the foothill regions July is best; and in the plains region June 

 is the most desirable. 



