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• top ranking species. These five species accounted for approximately <br />95 percent of the cover (Table 20). Native perennial grasses and <br />forbs accounted for less than 2 percent of the total species. Total <br />vegetation cover was 52.3 percent which is greater than the amount <br />measured in either of the reference areas. Bare soil cover was only <br />1.0 percent. <br />Total production in the areas seeded in 1979 was 445.8 g/m2 <br />(Table 21). Of this total, 40.1 percent was attributed to alfalfa. <br />Another 42 percent was approximately evenly distributed among <br />intermediate wheatgrass, smooth brome and cicer milkvetch. Native <br />perennial grasses accounted for approximately 8 percent of the total <br />production. The total production was more than four times the <br />herbaceous production in the reference areas. <br />• Total shrub density in the 1979 areas was 213 shrubs per hectare <br />(86 shrubs per acre). Big sagebrush and mountain snowberry were the <br />only two shrubs encountered in the sample (Table 22). The low shrub <br />density values in the 1979 areas are probably related to the amount <br />of alfalfa. Individual alfalfa plants grow quite large on the <br />reclaimed areas and may be more than 75 cm tall. In general, they <br /> are at least 50 cm tall, and form dense patches. <br /> Areas Seeded in 1980. The areas seeded in 1980 have <br /> essentially the same appearance as areas seeded in o ther years <br /> (Figure 6), and they were seeded with same mix used in 1977, 1978, <br /> and 1979 (Table 11). Alfalfa occurs as the major species, however it <br /> is not as a bundant as in the areas seeded in 1979. In all, 57 <br /> species were observed in the 1980 area s (Table 23). Mean cover for <br />• alfalfa was 16.8 percent and frequency was 75 percent. The other <br />47 <br />