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perennial grasses. Also, fewer introduced species were planted. <br />Seeding rates for alfalfa and titer milkvetch were also reduced and a • <br />variety of showy forba was included in the mix. Of the major species <br />that were planted, only streambank wheatgrass (Agropyron ripari.um) <br />and Great Basin wildrye (Elymua otinereua) were not observed. Of the <br />showy forb species, common yarrow (Achilles l:anulosa), penstemon <br />(Penstemon strictua), prairie coneflower (Ratit~ida columnifera), and <br />black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia htirta) were observed. In all, 88 species <br />were observed in the areas seeded in 1981 (Table 28). In general, <br />about 25 more species were observed in the 1981 areas than in areas <br />reclaimed prior to 1961. The increase in the total number of species <br />occurs mainly in the perennial and annual forb:; with a larger number <br />occurring in the 1981 areas. Some of the increased diversity coal be <br />attributed to weedy species that have persisted on [he 1981 areas • <br />that have either disappeared from the areas see<ied prior to 1981 or <br />were not observed in these areas. <br />Even with the reduced seeding rate, alfalfa was still the number <br />one ranking species (24.8 percent cover; 90 percent frequency) and <br />accounted for bl.b percent of the total species cover. Other major <br />species included smooth brome (1.9 percent cover; 53.3 percent <br />frequency), Canada bluegrass (Poo eompresea) (1.:? percent cover; 66.7 <br />percent frequency), timothy (Phleum pratenae) (1.7 percent cover; 50 <br />percent frequency) and Kentucky bluegrass (]..7 percent cover; 50 <br />percent frequency). These 5 species accounted for approximately 78 <br />percent of the total cover. Native cool season perennial grasses <br />accounted for 10.4 percent of the total spec:i~zs cover (Table 29). <br />This percentage is higher than any of the area:> seeded prior to 1981. <br />64 <br />