Laserfiche WebLink
Lorenciro Caravan Mirte - VeKeranan Technics! ReOart <br />• Coniferous Forest Reference Area <br />The understory was sparsely vegetated in these decadent, closed canopy forests. Litter build-up <br />was high and was as much as three-feet thick in some areas. The dominant understory grass is <br />narrow-leaved sedge at 4.4 mean absolute cover. Dandelion was the only annual forb hit within <br />the sample transects. Dominant forbs include trailing fleabane and western yarrow at 0.5 mean <br />absolute cover each. Mountain mahogany was the dominant shrub in the mid-story. Litter <br />accounted for 72.4 percent of the total cover and bare ground and rock were negligible. <br />The overstory was dominated by Gambel oak at 37.4 absolute mean density. Most of the Gambel <br />oak observed were trees, over three-meters th height. Mountain mahogany, ponderosa pine, one- <br />seed juniper, and Douglas-fir were secondary dominants. The woody stem density was 2,735 <br />stems per hectare. <br />Production was calculated at 40.96 pounds per acre. Due to the closed overstory of the forests, <br />little light and moisture reaches the forest floor. Thus, little herbaceous growth is observed. <br />Hay Meadow <br />The hay meadow located just south of the entrance to the permit area was sampled for vegetative <br />• cover. No reference area was identified and sampled for this community type. Disturbance in this <br />area is expected to be less than 1 acre which exempts it from requirements associated with <br />reclamation standards. <br />Table V-16 presents the summarized quantitative cover data collected for the hay meadow <br />community type. Dominant grasses include smooth brome and sleepygrass at 10.9 and 9.1 mean <br />absolute cover respectively. Cheatgrass was observed as the only annual grass. Annual forbs <br />were many with annual sunflower and goosefoot as the dominants. Alfalfa was the dominant <br />perennial forb at 21.6 mean absolute cover. Litter and bare ground were moderate at 25.8 and <br />17.9 mean absolute cover. Rock was minimal. No shrubs were observed during the field <br />investigation. Production for the hay meadow is not known, but the Land Use Section reports <br />average production for hay production in Las Animas County. <br />Sensitive Species of Plants <br />No sensitive species were encountered during the field surveys. Little suitable habitat occurs <br />within the permit area for these species and, thus, opportunities for these plants are limited. <br />LJ <br />Veg.475/December 9, 1996 23 <br />