SAMPLE PLOTS IX SILVICULTUKAL RESEAKCH 53 



able to take more data than are actually called for by existing plans. 

 Quantitative data derived from field measurement, whenever they 

 can be had, are preferable to qualitative descriptions. Items that 

 should in all cases be covered are the following: 



1. Designation and location. 



2. Date of establishment. 



3. Dimensions and area. 



4. Name of person making the description, and date of description. 



5. Description. 



(a) Forest type: Name, composition, etc. (Standard classifications 

 of the Forest Service or the Society of American Foresters should 

 be used if applicable.) 



(&) Density of stand and distribution of stems. Density of canopy, 

 both principal and subordinate. Method of determination. 



(c) Age of stand. Method of determination. 



(d) Site quality or site index. Method and basis of determination. (If 



more than one species are found in the stand, site should be given 

 for each of the important species.) 



(e) Climatic conditions. 



(f) Altitude, absolute and relative. 



(g) Slope and aspect.. Drainage. Other topographic features. 



(h) Soil: Type, origin, drainage, depth, mechanical analysis, pH, etc. 



(/) Rock: Underlying, outcropping, kind, quantity, distribution, etc. 



(,/) Litter and humus: Kind, depth, condition, distribution, etc. 



(fc) Ground cover: Species, 27 density, height, distribution, location of 

 significant, etc. 



(?) Underbrush: Species, 27 density, height, distribution, location of sig- 

 nificant, etc. 



(m) Reproduction: Origin, species, density, distribution, etc. 



6. History of stand. 



(a) Origin and development. 



(&) Fire. Nature of evidence. 



(c) Cutting and other disturbances caused by man. 



(d) Disturbances caused by other agencies such as livestock, game, 



insects, fungi, wind. 



7. General summary of silvicultural conditions and growth. 



Descriptions of individual divisions of a large plot in an irregu- 

 larly distributed stand may be very useful in explaining differences 

 in results on different parts of the plot. Brief descriptions of sub- 

 plots are needed in the case of subplots that are laid out for the pur- 

 pose of studying special conditions on the plot, and may be useful 

 in other cases. 



PHOTOGRAPHS 



Good photographs are an almost indispensable part of a plot 

 record. They illustrate conditions on the plot better than word de- 

 scription, and when repeated after a lapse of time show clearly the 

 changes in these conditions. (A series of repeat photographs is 

 shown in pi. 8.) In later years, the earry photographic record 

 may be even more important than the early written record. Be- 

 cause they are so valuable a part of the plot record, photographs 

 should be taken as carefully and with as much attention to details 

 as plot measurements. 



The choice of views is important. The photographs for any one 

 plot should together give as accurate an impression of plot condi- 

 tions as possible. To make them do this may necessitate including a 

 few unusual features, in addition to typical features. The possi- 



27 Here again, a herbarium for the plot may be very useful. 



