3 



Thus, a plant with two rosettes, three stems and a total of nine 

 fruits would be recorded as R1-I3-F9. In cases where plants had 

 not finished blooming, two flowers or flower buds were recorded 

 as one fruit. Since a first year plant can bloom and set fruit 

 (Lesica and Shelly, personal observation) , the above system 

 describes size rather than age classes. 



We also noted the presence of recently disturbed soil and 

 evidence of livestock trampling. We did not record seedling-size 

 plants at the Birch Creek site in 1987. We collected 25 randomly 

 selected fruits at each site starting in 1989. Each fruit was 

 hand-dissected and the number of seeds in each was recorded. We 

 read the transects on May 19-20, 1987; May 19-20, 1988; May 24- 

 25, 1989 and May 29-30, 1990. In 1987 we recorded data from 12 

 quadrats at Birch Creek. In 1988 this number was increased to 

 14. 



Population growth rate was calculated by dividing the 

 increase in individuals over the previous year divided by the 

 number of individuals present in the plot the previous year. 

 Negative growth rates reflect a decreasing population size. 



