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the soil surface was covered with a thick layer of oak litter. The remain- <br />. ing quadrats ranged from 2 percent herbaceous cover to 20 percent, with the <br />majority under 10 percent. Shrub density was equally variable. Twenty <br />percent of the randomly placed quadrats included no shrub stems, but only <br />one of these lacked a shrub canopy. <br />Riparian <br />Riparian vegetation occurs along the banks of the North Fork of the <br />Gunnison River in a narrow zone, rarely more than 10 m wide. It is usually <br />restricted to the edge of the stream channel between the high and low <br />water levels. The north bank of the river is steep along much of the <br />permit area, with the oak shrub vegetation type extending down to the <br />stream bank. Typical trees and shrubs of the riparian margin are narrow- <br />• leaf cottonwood, alder, hawthorn, Russian olive, red-osier dogwood, and <br />several species of willow. The major herbaceous species include horse- <br />tails, sedges, and grasses. Few trees of any size occur within the permit <br />area and these are generally restricted to wide river terraces (Exhibit <br />2.04.10-A). In much of the permit area cottonwood and poplar trees are <br />seedlings and saplings along the river bank, which is subject to annual <br />washouts due to high spring water levels. The riparian margin is typically <br />low shrubby vegetation interspersed with patches of herbaceous growth and <br />bare cobbles. <br />The narrow band of riparian vegetation shows signs of disturbance <br />• <br />throughout most of the permit area. At the Oliver Power Plant site, typi- <br />cal riparian species (e.g., willow, cottonwood, sedges, horsetail) are <br />accompanied by horticultural species such as lilac, iris and roses. <br />2.04-45 <br />