These methodologies rely upon the relationships of the distribution of a
plant's mass plotted against it's height. Various species of plants have
differing characteristics of form. Some plants have a lot of their mass elevated
well above ground, as shown by this sedge.
Others have more of their mass concentrated near the ground as illustrated
by this Tufted Hairgrass plant.
By clipping plants at regular increments from their tops to ground level and weighing the mass clipped from each increment, a height/weight curve can be constructed which describes the height distribution of a plant's above ground mass.
Through sampling we can estimate the height of ungrazed plants and also measure the heights of grazed plants. This is the procedure adopted by the Bridger-Teton Voluntary Monitoring Protocol and described in "Utilization Studies and Residual Measurements", the 1996 Interagency Technical Reference.
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The images on this page are from "A Photographic Utilization Guide for Key Riparian Graminoids", John W. Kinney, Warren P. Clary, USDA Forest Service Intermountain Research Station General Technical Report INT-GTR-308
Last Updated May 26, 1998 by Eric Peterson