Laserfiche WebLink
EXHIBIT J (Cont'd) <br />trampling by cattle, the soils under the,hay are moist <br />and soft. Soils without the mulch are very dry and hard <br />to turn over with a spade. In places Bromus inermis is <br />coming into the areas very vigorously and attests to <br />what the mulch can do if used properly. <br />Cover in this community is from 20go to 40o in a few <br />places. The vegetation height is generally from 8 to 14 <br />inches. <br />l 3. Dry Agropyron-Bromus-Chrysothamnus Corrununity - This <br />community is without a doubt the most diverse and common <br />of the four. It has many small sub-variants and often <br />composes both upland and bottomland sites. The factor <br />controlling this community appears to be primarily an <br />impact from highly intermittent irrigation and a gradual <br />return to the natural condition through a rather complex <br />successional sequence. Upland rocky areas that were <br />originally probably sagebrush seem to be returning to <br />sagebrush while the bottomland areas are currently moving <br />toward a strange mixture of Bromus inermis, Phleum pratense, <br />and dense growths of the weed Erodium cicutarium. The <br />Chrysothamnus is found as an initial, but presently common, <br />stage of return to Artemisia domination. Cover in this <br />community varies from about 15°,~ on the dry, rocky upland <br />sites to about 800 on the bottomland sites. The height <br />ranges from less than 6 inches to more than 24 inches <br />where an unidentified mustard is common, but far from <br />dominant or ecologically important. <br />4. Artemisia-Bromus tectorum-Festuca Community - This community <br />inhabits large areas where the rocky Azeltine soils occur. <br />Generally previous disturbances have been restricted to <br />intense grazing, but in a few places where this community <br />is found on the Atensio soils some cultivation apparently <br />attempted a long time ago. The Artemisia found on these <br />I sites is quite old although not particularly large. It <br />ranges from about 18 to 36 inches with an average of <br />between 24 and 30 inches. The understory is primarily <br />Bromus tectorum, Festuca arizonica, Tragopogon sp., and <br />in places small patches of Opuntia. Cover is about 20 to <br />30 percent and productivity is fairly high but with a low <br />utility. Deer and elk might use the sites in the winter <br />to a small extent, but currently the only evidence of use <br />is by a few sparrows, meadowlarks and jack rabbits. <br />_ 28 <br />