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hit cover. Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentate)(6.4 percent), rubber rabbitbrush <br />(Chrysothamnus nauseosus)(4.0 percent), and alkali sagebrush (Artemisia arbuscula <br />ssp. longiloba)(2.1 percent) were the predominant species contributing cover. <br />Introduced perennial cool season grasses contributed 11.9 percent first-hit cover. Of <br />which, quackgrass (Elytrigia repens) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) contributed <br />8.27 and 3.6 percent cover, respectively. Also observed in the area but not in <br />measurable amounts were the noxious weeds bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) and hound’s <br />tongue (Cynoglossum officinale). Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) contributed less <br />than 1 percent cover. <br />Total average vegetation cover for first-hits was 50.5 percent. Allowable all-hit <br />herbaceous cover was 37.2 percent. Cover by standing dead, litter, and bare soil <br />averaged 2.1, 30.1, and 17.2 percent, respectively (first hits). Total non-noxious <br />species encountered in the Sagebrush / Rabbitbrush Area was 65. Average non- <br />noxious species density was 20.9 species per 100 sq. m. <br />DISCUSSION <br />Climatic conditions <br />Since sampling in July 2012, ten of twelve months had been below average in <br />precipitation, with December 2012 and April 2013 being greater than twice average <br />(Figure 4b). Altogether the precipitation total for the twelve months preceding sampling <br />was well below average (Figure 5b). 2013 was well above the average temperature – <br />in fact it was the highest year in the 27-year record (started in 1986) (Figure 8). In the <br />context of the six or four-months preceding sampling (Figures 6b and 7b, respectively) <br />the cumulative precipitation was less dramatically below average, though still slightly <br />so. However, warm temperatures exacerbate any moisture shortages from the <br />standpoint of growing vegetation. <br />Cover <br />2013 interim sampling on this young site shows that response of the seeded perennials <br />is, so far, limited. The bulk of the 39.2 percent mean cover was introduced annual / <br />7 <br />