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4-104 <br />• 4.8.10.2 Big Sagebrush Shrubland <br />The Big Sagebrush Shrubland vegetation type occurs in deep <br />loamy soils of drainages. Near the mine site, big sagebrush <br />dominates the upper portion of small draws and extends into <br />the Greasewood Shrubland. Soil salts are probably the major <br />ecological factor separating these two communities. Big <br />Sagebrush occurs mainly on the Rivra Nihill loamy. These <br />soils are deep, well to excessively well drained, and have a <br />moderate texture. See photograph in this subsection. <br />Cover <br />This vegetation type is composed of 33 species. These include; <br />1 tree, 10 shrubs and subshrubs, 7 graminoids, 13 forbs, and <br />• 2 succulents. Shrubs are the dominant life form with 34.0 per- <br />cent cover, followed by graminoids with 26.8 percent cover and forbs <br />with 3.3 percent cover. Total vegetation cover is 64.5 percent. <br />Litter and soil cover are relatively high with 18.5 and 14.3 <br />percent, respectively. Rock cover is relatively low (2.8 percent). <br />See Table 4.8-7. <br />The dominant shrub is big sagebrush (27.0 percent cover). Commonly <br />occurring shrubs are: fourwing saltbush A~htip2ez caneecena <br />(1.5 percent cover), rubber rabbitbrush Chnyeo~hamnua nauaeoaua <br />(1.0 percent cover), and greasewood (3.8 percent cover). <br /> As in the greasewood vegetation type, cheatgrass is the major <br />• graminoid species with 26.3 percent cover. This again is indi- <br />