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iii iiiiiiiiuiii iii <br />VEGETATION <br />S~EXHIBIT J ~'~~Ibl <br />The following is a report prepared by Mark A. Heffner <br />of Oikos Environmental Services. <br />Vegetation of the area is composed of many units, some <br />of which are quite complex. However, most of the area is <br />occupied by agricultural vegetation. In 1981 the site was <br />planted in corn or alfalfa <br />Both crops do very well on the <br />soils. <br />Other vegetation units include a large area of Cattail- <br />Reedgrass swamp, a scattered and diverse stand of grasses and <br />shrubs, a typical bottomland sagebrush community, an extensive <br />stand of Riparian Vegetation composed of willows and cotton- <br />woods along the Colorado River, and a small area of Saltbush <br />on the saline/alkaline soils. <br />The Cattail-Reedgrass stands exist on very wet Halaquepts <br />soils next to the occasional sirens of open water in these <br />swampy areas. These species i°orm a tall, very dense stand <br />with a cover of 100 percent except where open water occurs. <br />The Grass-Shrub community is a highly diverse area and <br />probably could be broken into at least a half dozen different <br />units that intermingle with each other. This community <br />usually is.found as a transition between the Cattail-Reedgrass <br />Swamps and the agricultural croplands. Primary species in the <br />Grass-Shrub community are Inland Saltgrass, Smooth Brome, <br />small Rabbitbrush and Sagebrush plants, some Knapweed, and <br />-30- <br />