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permit boundary, and proposed reference areas are also indicated. The <br />scientific and common names of the domination plants and characteristic <br />plant association within each vegetation type are listed in Table XVII.2-1 <br />in Appendix XVII. The extent of vegetation types is listed in Table <br />2.04.10.A. <br />Oak Shrub <br />The oak shrub community covers most of the north-facing slopes to the <br />south of the Gunnison River. At the mine site it occupies much of the area <br />along the ri~~er bottom on the north side of the river and extends up draws <br />and streambeds of intermittent streams. The oak shrub gives way to pinyon- <br />juniper on the steep south slopes of the canyon, then occurs again on the <br />gentler slopes above. <br />Oak shrub vegetation usually occurs at elevations between 6,500 ft and <br />8,500 ft, in areas with annual precipitation of 12 to 17 inches (Cronquist <br />et al., 1972). At the mine site it occurs as low as 6,200 ft. The vegeta- <br />tion is very dense, consisting mainly of Gambel oak. Other shrubs present <br />are mountain mahogany, serviceberry, mountain snowberry, Woods rose, Oregon <br />grape, skunkbrush sumac, hawthorne and chokecherry. Common understory spe- <br />cies are slender wheatgrass, blue wildrye, junegrass, elk sedge, arrowleaf <br />balsamroot, and goldenrod (Cronquist et al., 1972). <br />According to Brown (1958) oak shrub vegetation has historically <br />occupied about the same area it does today in west-central Colorado, <br />although the present sands may be more dense due to fire a~~d other man- <br />caused disturbance. Gambel oak can withstand most such disturbances, and <br />will often increase in density and distribution as a result of them. <br />2.04-42 <br /> <br />