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West Elk Mine <br />specific revegetation success criteria for West Elk Mine. The location of the historic record area <br />is shown on Map 53. <br />1980 Oakbrush Community and Reference Area <br />The oakbrush community was the most extensive vegetation type in the initial mine facilities area to <br />be impacted and occurred on a variety of slopes and aspects. The dominant species of this <br />vegetation type is Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii). Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) is <br />dominant in the secondary overstory. The Gambel oak stands vary from open, almost pazk-like <br />stands with awell-developed herbaceous understory to extremely thick, virtually impenetrable <br />thickets with poorly developed understories. <br />The dominant understory layer species in the affected area included Gambel oak, western <br />snowbeny (Symphoricarpos oreophilus), sedges (Carex spp.), vetch (Uicia americana), <br />chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), and tuber starwort (Stellaria jamesiana). The herbaceous cover <br />amounted to 13.9 percent while total shrub cover in the herb layer was 37.6 percent. Total <br />vegetation cover was 46.2 percent. Litter covered 100 percent of the ground layer. <br />Dominant species encountered during cover sampling in the oakbrush reference azea included <br />Gambel oak, western snowberry, Kentucky bluegrass, servicebeny, common lupine (Lupinus <br />argenteus), and chokecherry. The total herbaceous cover was 17.3 percent and the total shrub cover <br />in the herbaceous layer was 47.8 percent. Total vegetation cover was 58.6 percent (Exhibit 33). <br />Litter accounted for 98.1 percent of the ground layer. Bare soil and rock accounted for 1.8 and 0.3 <br />• percent of the ground layer respectively. <br />Total production for the affected oakbnxsh community was 85.53 grams per square meter (Exhibit <br />33). Herbaceous production was 55.66 grams per square meter for the affected area. C}raminoids <br />accounted for 36 percent of the total biomass. Bluegrass and sedges were the major species, with <br />perennial fortis accounting for 19 percent of the total biomass. Thirty-five percent of the total <br />biomass was attributable to shrub species with Gambel oak and western snowbeny occurring as the <br />most productive species. <br />In the reference area for the oakbrush community, the total production was 86.23 grams per squaze <br />meter (Exhibit 33). Herbaceous production was 53.64 grams per squaze meter for the reference <br />area. Approximately 35 percent of the total biomass was attributable to graminoid species with <br />Kentucky bluegrass being the most productive. Perennial fortis accounted for 27 percent of the total <br />biomass, and shrub species provided 38 percent of the total biomass. The major producing shrub <br />species were Gambel oak and western snowbeny. <br />The most abundant shrub species encountered in the affected azea was Gambel oak with 35,720 <br />individuals per hectaze (14,462/acre). Approximately 48 percent of the individuals were in the <br />0.25m-0.75 m height class. The rest were relatively evenly distributed among the other four height <br />classes. The second most abundant species was western snowberry with 22,220 individuals per <br />hectare (8,995/acre). Most individuals (83 percent) were in the first height class. <br />The next most abundant species were serviceberry and chokecherry with 10,460 (4,235/acre) and <br />9,280 (3,757/acre) individuals per hectare, respectively. Wood's rose was the least abundant species <br />2.04-1 S/ Revised November 1004 PRIO <br />