Field Techniques Clause Samples

Field Techniques. 1) After a site has been selected and flagged for sampling, field personnel shall browse in a pseudo-random fashion through the sampling area clipping branchwood with foliage from new growth and old growth on the shrub species being sampled. Branchwood sampled should be no larger than 1/8 inch in diameter. 2) Since the fuel moisture is expected to vary vertically, most samples should be taken from the upper limbs of each shrub. Care shall be taken so that no more than two new growth and two old-growth clippings are taken from any single shrub. The Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Member shall ensure that field personnel are trained to distinguish the difference between old growth and new growth during a "sampling orientation." Lycium has a very short window in which the two are separated. Baccharis and Artemisia are separated for a longer period of time, but not necessarily all year. 3) Altogether 6 samples shall be taken at each site: three old-growth branch wood and three new growth branch wood, or if not distinguishable, just six samples. After the samples have been collected, crews shall place them in an ice chest for transport to the laboratory. The ice chest shall be kept cool enough to keep the samples from physiologically decomposing (approximately 15 degrees C), but not so cold such that the samples re damaged by freezer burn. 4) The branchwood from the old and new growth shall be placed in two separate sampling containers. Each container should have already been weighed in the lab to the nearest 0.1 g. Polypropylene sampling bottles rated up to at least 130 degrees C should be used for storing and weighing the samples. The use of these bottles is recommended in place of traditional paint cans because of their improved seal. Each bottle should be labeled individually, making sure to label both the bottle and its associated cap. Sample material should be loosely arranged within the container because compressing the sample will bias the results. 5) Countryman and ▇▇▇▇ recommend weighing three old growth and new growth samples, each containing at least 25 to 35 grams of sample dry. Since the mass of the sample dry is only known after the experiment, this roughly translates into approximately 3/4 of a one quart paint can during the middle summer months.