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3.0 RESULTS <br />3.1 QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION: EXTENDED REFERENCE AREA <br />The extended reference area sampled was predominantly a dense mountain shrub vegetation <br />community dominated by a dense woody canopy with scattered openings and a sparse shrubby <br />and herbaceous understory. Specific vegetation information for the extended reference area is <br />contained in Tables 1 and 2. As the 2020 vegetation sampling program included sampling for <br />both Phase II and Phase III bond releases, the Extended Reference Area included sampling <br />locations adjacent to Phase II and Phase III reclaimed sites. <br />3.1.1 Total Vegetation Cover: Extended Reference Area <br />Fifteen quantitative cover samples were collected in the extended reference area. Total mean <br />vegetation cover of the extended reference area was 86.13 percent. Graminoids provided 3.33 <br />percent mean vegetation cover, forbs accounted for 7.73 percent mean vegetation cover, and <br />woody species contributed 75.07 percent mean vegetation cover. Total herbaceous vegetation <br />cover, comprising the revegetation success criterion for reclaimed areas, was 11.06 percent <br />(the sum of graminoid and forb vegetation cover). <br />The most frequently encountered species was Quercus gambelli (Gambel's oak), present in <br />100 percent of the 15 transects sampled for vegetation cover. Symphoricarpos rotundifolius <br />(snowberry) was sampled in 93 percent of all transects. Aster glaucodes (aster) and Wvethia <br />amplexicaulis (mules ears) were present in 60 percent of transects. Carex geyerii (elk sedge) <br />and Amelanchier alnifolia (serviceberry) were found in 53 percent of all transects sampled. <br />All other species were encountered in fewer than fifty percent of the vegetation cover transects. <br />Overall, within the extended reference area the perennial deciduous small tree Quercus <br />gambelli, was dominant, contributing 61.07 percent total vegetation cover. Symphoricarpos <br />rotundifolius contributed the second highest vegetation cover, with 9.07 percent total mean <br />cover. Two additional species contributed more than two percent mean vegetation cover, <br />Amelanchier alnifolia contributing 2.40 percent and Prunus virginiana (chokecherry) <br />contributing 2.27 percent total vegetation cover. <br />Vegetative litter (prior years growth, dead wood, and other biologic organic material) <br />comprised 11.47 percent ground cover overall within the extended reference area. Bare soil <br />comprised 1.07 percent of the ground cover. Rock accounted for 1.33 percent of the ground <br />cover sampled. <br />3.1.2 Species Composition: Extended Reference Area <br />Cover sampling identified three lifeforms and twenty-four plant species within the extended <br />reference area (Table 1). The lifeforms included six species of perennial grass, twelve <br />perennial forbs, one annual forb, and five woody plant species. Of the species encountered <br />within the extended reference area, twenty-one were native and three were introduced. <br />Perennial species outnumbered annual species by twenty-three to one. All graminoid and forb <br />species were cool season. All of the woody plants were deciduous. <br />Oxbow Mining, LLC Elk Creek Mine Page 6 <br />2020 Phase 11 Bond Release Vegetation Report <br />