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1 <br />Peabody Twentymile Coal Company <br />2005 Fish Creek AVF Riparian Vegetation Monitoring <br />demonstrate two trends in vegetation community composition: an increase in the <br />' Improved Pasture -Mesic community type and a decrease in Silver Sage -Pastureland <br />community type. These trends are illustrated in Figure 2: Increasing Improved Pasture - <br />' Mesic Vegetation Community Type, and Figure 3: Decreasing Silver Sage -Pastureland <br />Vegetation Community Type. <br />2005 Transects <br />Vegetation community composition by transect is presented in Table 4: <br />Vegetation Community Composition of 2005 Transects. Figure 4 illustrates the <br />vegetation community composition for the 2005 transects. Table 4 lists the relative <br />vegetation community composition observed throughout the 2005 transects. <br />Discussion <br />The Fish Creek AVF currently exists in a modified condition and supports <br />intensive livestock grazing operations. The vegetation in the study area is indicative of <br />improved pastureland. The dominance of introduced pasture grasses such as smooth <br />brome and redtop (Agrostis gigantean Roth) demonstrates that this area has a history of <br />agricultural land use and modification. <br />The active stream channel is deeply incised with steep, actively eroding banks <br />generally devoid of any vegetation. The green-line of the channel is typically defined by <br />upland vegetation. Trampling from livestock has continued to denude stream banks and <br />mudflats that would otherwise support dense hydric vegetation. These conditions are <br />typical of riparian corridors where livestock are not excluded from the active channel. <br />Vegetation communities with hydric or riparian qualities comprise approximately ten <br />percent of the study azea. <br />Within the study azea subsidence is expected to have one of three general impacts: <br />' 1. Little or no effect; <br />2. An increase in hydric vegetation dominated communities associated with surface <br />' subsidence and closer proximity of the rooting zone to groundwater, as well as an <br />increase in impounded surface water resources; or <br />Habitat Management, Inc. Page 5 3/14/2006 <br />