24 Plots South and 16 North...

I went out early this morning with Murphy to assess the plots and determine which ones, realistically, can be used in the experiment, and which ones will be ruled out. The magic number is 24 plots in the south and 16 plots in the north. This will give us 5 replicates of our 8 (minimum) treatments. We walked plot by plot, and decided that any any plot dominated by prairielike plants would be set aside - these plot probably do not have much chance of being successfully restored, but nevertheless they are not typical of the high buckthorn impact.

We were as conservative as possible and when we had walked all 42 of the 7x7 m areas that we (as a class) had marked out we totted up the total: 24! Assessing the northern section we were optimistic that we will fit 16 there. If all goes according to plan everything will work well.

Tomorrow morning (7am!) I will meet Bev out on the site and she will make the final descision. I'll keep you posted. It might just work out fine.