Laserfiche WebLink
Keenesburg Mine 2014 Vegetation Monitoring Report <br />necessarily soak into the ground in the quantities that the data would suggest. Additionally, it <br />was at the end of the growing season and may have assisted with root development and over - <br />winter heartiness, but not necessarily increased production. The same is true for the snowfall in <br />January, much of which likely evaporated rather than infiltrated. <br />6.3 Species Composition <br />Reclamation Areas 30 and 31 did not meet the species composition success criteria this season. <br />Neither site exhibited the one cool season grass species necessary to meet the requirement (Table <br />11). Additionally, Area 31 only had three perennial grass species that constituted greater than 3% <br />of the relative cover. <br />Table 11: Species Composition Success Standard Comparison <br />Species Composition <br />Success <br />Standard <br />Area 30 <br />Area 31 <br />Total Perennial Species* <br />4 <br />5 <br />3 <br />Warm Season Grasses* <br />3 <br />5 <br />3 <br />Cool Season Grasses* <br />1 <br />0 <br />0 <br />Standard Passed? <br />No <br />No <br />* All species included must constitute greater than 3% and less than 40% of the relative cover <br />Reclamation Area 30 had five perennial warm season grasses, but lacked one qualifying <br />perennial cool season grass to satisfy all requirements of the revegetation success standard. <br />While Indian rice grass (Achnatherum [Oryzopsis] hymenoides) was present in cover sampling, <br />its contribution was less than the required 3 %. <br />Reclamation Area 31 had only three perennial warm season grasses and no perennial cool season <br />grasses, thus failing to meet either component of the standard. Area 31 had seven warm season <br />and two cool season perennial grasses along the cover transects, but only three that met the <br />relative cover requirement of 3 %. <br />7 SUMMARY <br />Quantitative monitoring of Reclamation Areas 30 and 31 revealed that they did not meet the <br />current final revegetation success standards. Mean total vegetation cover in Reclamation Area 30 <br />was greater than 90% of the predicted cover standard of 34.7 %, but less than this value in <br />Reclamation Area 31. Additionally, the mean total herbaceous production values from both <br />reclamation areas were less than 90 percent of the 212.6 g /m2 total herbaceous production <br />success standard. <br />Both Reclamation Areas also failed to meet the species composition standard because they each <br />lacked a cool season perennial grass species with great enough relative cover to meet the <br />standard. Reclamation Area 30 had five warm season perennial grass species and Reclamation <br />Area 30 had three warm season perennial grass species. <br />Habitat Management, Inc. 16 September 2014 <br />