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Peabody Twentymile Coal Company <br />2005 Fish Creek AVF Riparian Vegetation Monitoring <br />slender wheatgrass (Elymus trachycaulus) dominated grasslands both occur in similar <br />ecological settings at this site, so they were grouped together in the "Improved Pasture - <br />Mesic" vegetation community type. Two additions were made to the 2003 classification <br />system to more accurately describe transect composition in 2004. Specifically, the 2004 <br />monitoring efforts incorporated a "Riparian -Open Water" classification, and the "Big <br />Sage" community type was changed to "Sage Brush" to integrate a new "Black Sage" <br />(Artemisia nova) community sub-type. In 2005, a "Barren and Trampled" community <br />sub-type was added to the "Improved Pasture - Mesic" community, and a "Bare Rock" <br />category was added while surveying the 2005 transects. <br />Vegetation community composition was determined by traversing permanently <br />established transects and recording the number of paces for each community sub-type <br />encountered. Data was analyzed on both a community sub-type and a grouped <br />community type for individual transects. The number of paces for each community type <br />was divided by the total number of paces and multiplied by 100 to yield a percent value <br />for each community. <br />Results <br />Six main vegetation community types and 18 subtypes were identified during <br />monitoring activities. Four of the six are upland xeric to mesic pasture community types. <br />A summary of community types, sub-types, and their associated properties is contained in <br />Table 1: Community Type Summary. Monitoring results from the original 12 transects <br />established in 2003 are presented first, followed by results from the six additional <br />transects established in 2005. <br />2003 Transects <br />An analysis of community composition is presented in Table 2: Vegetation <br />Community Composition of 2003 Transects. Comparisons between the 2003, 2004 and <br />2005 monitoring observations are presented in Table 3: 2003, 2004 and 2005 Relative <br />Percent Community Composition by Transect, and Figure 1: 2003, 2004 and 2005 <br />Relative Percent Community Composition by Transect. Table 3 and Figure 1 <br />Habitat Management, Inc. Page 4 3/14/2006 <br />