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• Sagebrush where the maximum sample size of fifty was taken, and in the diminuitive Mesic Drainage <br />type, where sample size was restricted to five for all parameters. <br />Floral ComposRion <br />Table 27 lists all plant species observed during the course of field studies on the Seneca II-W Mine <br />Expansion Area. <br />Vegetation of Pond 009 Aree <br />Cover data collected in the vicinity of Pond 009 (not included in the sample universe of the other <br />Expansion Area sampling) are presented in Tables 21, 22, and 23 for the Aspen Woodland, Mesic <br />Drainage, and Mixed Brush vegetation types, respectively. These areas were sampled in late <br />September, 1990. At that time, leaves had begun to fall, so that vegetation cover by woody plants was <br />less than it would have been during the middle of the growing season. Nonetheless, the species <br />composition of these sites compared to the main expansion area seemed qualitatively to be very similar <br />even though loss of foliage had rendered quantitative comparison difficult. <br />In the Aspen Woodland type (Table 21, Figure 8), the total vegetation cover was 80.4 percent; this <br />• compares to 87.9 percent in the main Expansion Area. In the distribution of cover among <br />lifetorms, as shown in relative cover data (see Table 25), it can be seen that there was proportionately <br />more native perennial graminoid cover in the Pond 009 Aspen Woodland samples than in either the main <br />Expansion Area or the Permit Area. Conversely, native perennial (orb cover was substantially less in <br />the Pond 009 area. It is likely that the observed withering of such common aspen understory torbs as <br />nettleleai giant hyssop, Porter's lovage, the anise roots (Osmorhiza spp.), common yampa, and <br />American vetch contributed to the lower torb cover. <br />The Mesic Drainage stands in the vicinity of Pond 009 have experienced the very heavy livestock use <br />typical of the type in the region, but which was not the case in the Mesic Drainage area present in the <br />main Expansion Area where cattle were mostly fenced out. Steep valley sides within the Pond 009 area <br />tend to intensify the normal tendency of grazing livestock to concentrate in valley bottom sites, leading <br />to the excessive utilization very evident at this site. Consequently, introduced annual, biennial, and <br />perennial (orbs were much abundant in the Pond 009 area Mesic Drainage vegetation than in that of the <br />main Expansion Area (Table 22, Figure 9). Of these introduced weedy species, bull thistle (Cirsium <br />vulgare), houndstongue, tarweed (Media glomerate), pennycress, devil's shoestrings (Polygonum <br />. a I ), and common dandelion were particularly abundant. Total vegetation cover in the Pond 009 <br />21 <br />