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pratensis dominated the lowest stratum of the community. Fifteen herbaceous fort <br />species were encountered within the lowest layer of the community. <br />Four lifeforms were encountered during the sampling of the oakbrush community. <br />They included graminoids, forts, woody shrubs, and trees. Twenty-nine individual <br />plant species were identified during sampling. Four species were graminoids, fifteen <br />were forts, eight were shrubs, and two were trees. Of the species encountered, all <br />were perennial. All graminoid species encountered were identified as cool season. <br />Fourteen of the fifteen forts were cool season, with Solidago occidentalis (goldenrod) <br />being warm season. Woody species were divided in morphologic type, with seven <br />being deciduous and three being evergreen. Twenty-seven species were native in origin <br />and two were introduced. None of the species encountered were designated noxious <br />weed species. The plant species encountered and their characteristics are presented in <br />Table 1. <br />Vegetation Cover <br />Total vegetation cover of the oakbrush community within the study area was 80.67 <br />percent. Graminoids represented 4.53 percent mean cover (6.11% relative cover), <br />forts accounted for 4.27 percent mean cover (5.89% relative cover), and woody plants <br />represented 71.87 percent mean cover and 88.00 percent relative cover. A summary of <br />• the cover sampling data are presented in Table 2. <br />The dominant plant species in the oakbrush community was Quercus gambe/u at 41.47 <br />percent mean cover (47.373'o relative cover). All other species provided significantly <br />less cover than Quercus gambelii. Within the canopy and medium height stratum, <br />Ame/anchier alnifolia accounted for 10.67 percent mean cover and 13.16 percent <br />relative cover. Svmphoricarpos rotundifilius and Prunus virginiana contributed <br />significantly to the medium level stratum, with 6.00 percent (8.42 % relative) and 4.00 <br />percent (7.47% relative) total cover, respectively. Mahonia repens and Poa pratensis <br />dominated the cover of the lowest layer of the community. Mahonta repens accounted <br />for 3.47 percent total cover and 5.26 percent relative cover. Poa pratensis provided <br />2.13 percent total cover and 3.47 percent relative cover. In all, these five woody <br />plants and one grass accounted for 67.74 percent of mean total vegetation cover, and <br />85.15 percent of all relative vegetation cover. Interestingly, none of the fifteen fort <br />species comprised more than one percent total or relative cover, illustrating the biologic <br />adage, "it is rare to be common and common to be rare". <br />Vegetative litter (prior years growth, dead wood, and other biologic organic material) <br />comprised 18.93 percent ground cover within the oakbrush community. Bare soil was <br />not encountered in the cover sampling. Rock accounted for 0.40 percent of cover <br />encountered in the study azea. <br />• <br />-9- <br />