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• distributed. Combined, the six species contributed 44.5 $ relative <br />cover in the main area and 28.3 8 in the reference area. Snakeweed <br />(Gutierrezia sarothrae) and globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea) are <br />spread throughout the community, becoming more dominant in drier <br />areas lacking strong perennial grass cover. They contributed a <br />combined 4.5 $ and 3.1 ~ relative cover in the main and reference <br />areas. Prickly pear (opuntia polyacantha) is also fairly evenly <br />spread throughout (main area - 1.5 ~; reference area - 0 ~). <br />Annual grasses and fortis comprised 3.5 g relative cover in the main <br />area and 10.0 ~ relative cover in the reference area. <br />Total vegetative cover hovered around 20$ for all three major <br />communities and the two reference areas. The sagebrush community <br />was found to have the lowest total vegetative cover (18.4%), though <br />the reference area was second highest in this category. Bare <br />ground was higher in the two sagebrush areas than in the grassland <br />and juniper-pinyon sampled areas. <br />Herbaceous production was almost as low as in the <br />juniper-pinyon woodland. The main area averaged 11.3 grams/square <br />meter; the reference averaged 10.4. Annuals only contributed 1.8$ <br />of the total production in the main area while composing 13.5$ in <br />the reference area. <br />Woody stems, 99% of which were sagebrush, averaged 2841 and <br />3799 per acre in the main and reference areas respectively. <br />- 9 - <br />• <br />