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upland mesic tall shrubs including serviceberry and chokecherry entered the side slopes of • <br />the flood channel (Figure 9c). <br />Comparison to Regional Vegetation <br />Throughout the study area, and the regon in general, the detailed composition of the <br />identified vegetation types at a particular location had been strongly affected by the land use <br />and management history. In the southern part of the study area, for example, a large area of <br />sagebrush exists in an area that had been plowed and cultivated about 50 years ago. <br />Vegetation of the Yoast study area is highly typical of western Routt County and of Northwest <br />Colorado in general. The Aspen vegetation type is internally highly variable, with a wide <br />variety of understory dominants, including shrubs, forts, and grasses. The variability of <br />the Aspen vegetation types of the central Rocky Mountains and Intermountain region have <br />been described and classified by Alexander (1988), Hoffman and Alexander (1980, 1983), <br />and Mueggler (1988), among others. <br />Aspen vegetation of the Yoast study area most closely corresponded with the community type <br />described by Mueggler (1988) as Pooulus tremuloides /Amelanchier alnifolia - • <br />Svmohoricarpos oreophilus /Bromus carinatus. In this type; 1) no coniferous species <br />comprised 10 percent or more of the total cover, 2) Amelanchier alnifolia, Prunus <br />yjLainiana, Acer grandidentatum, and Salix scouleriana comprised less than 10 percent <br />cover, 3) Symphoricarpos, Paxistima, and $QS.3 spp. comprised at least 10 percent cover, <br />4) tall forts were relatively inconspicuous, 5) neither Calamag~gstis rubescens nor Carex <br />9eyeri comprised as much as 10 percent cover, 6) Thalictrum fendlerii, Osmorhiza <br />chilensis, and Geranium viscosissimum totaled less than 10 percent cover, and 7) Bromus <br />carinatus (=Ceratochloa marpinata), EJymus glaucus, and E(ymus trachvcaulus totaled 5 <br />percent cover or more. <br />Those stands with somewhat less than 10 percent ~ymohoricaroos cover would fall into the <br />P~pulus tremuloides /Bromus carinatus community type of Mueggler (1988). Those <br />occasional stands with Pteridium aquilinum in the understory Fall into the Pooulus <br />tremuloides /Pteridium aggj inum community type of Mueggler. Since Aspen is a woodland <br />type, no SCS range site comparable to this vegetation type is recognized. <br />The Mountain Brush vegetation type of the Yoast Study area was similar to that observed in • <br />previous studies of the type in the region (Marr, et al. 1973; Marr and Buckner 1974; <br />22 <br />