This is measured by going out and putting a quadrat on the plot and estimating the amount of visible crust present. At Dugway, we can see is that again the trampled area seemed to be stimulated. There was a lichen called Collema tenax, that grew like crazy in the plots, so that trampled plots have as much lichen cover as the undisturbed plots. However, the burned area hasn't recovered. In these other sites, there is not as much lichen and algal cover.

So in summary, we saw some recovery in crust cover, particularly at the trampled area in Dugway Proving Ground and in the burned area after five years at Dugway, but little recovery was observed at the other sites. Burning was more severe than the trampling and required longer recovery periods.

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