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r <br />_ . • <br />measures of total cover, total production, and diversity may not reflect this <br />difference between the reclaimed and reference areas. The Motyka index of <br />similarity, on the other hand, does. <br />Case 5 illustrates two communities that have a high index of similarity <br />and similar indices of diversity. Highly similar communities (as determined <br />by the index of similarity) will always have similar indices of diversity, <br />yet communities with similar indices of diversity will not necessarily have <br />similar Motyka indices. <br />Case 6 is an hypothetical example of two communities that have the same <br />index of diversity (H'=0.3924) but are very different in terms of dominant <br />components. The diversity index could erroneously indicate similarity when <br />little exists (IS = 35%). <br />On the other hand, the Shannon-Wiener (H') value for the Dry Meadow <br />community based on cover at the Mt. Gunnison Mine is .5168 for the affected <br />area and .5199 on the reference area (Table 11). The similarity value when <br />comparing these same areas is 69% (Table 2). A similar comparison (Table 5 <br />and 12) can be made for the Wet Mixed Shrub community (H' _ .8422 versus <br />.8064 while IS = 68%). Thus where the Shannon-Wiener function shows equality <br />the similarity value is less than 100%. This lower similarity value is a <br />reflection of the difference in the number of species common to each compared <br />area. <br />Conclusion <br />The Motyka index of similarity can be used to assess reclamation success <br />and choose reference areas. It is a straightforward measure that can describe <br />the degree of relationship between reference areas, affected areas, and <br />