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The native tree, quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), was the dominant species in this area and <br />• contributed 30.7 percent of total vegetation cover. Native shrubs accounted for 30.8 percent of <br />total vegetation cover. Saskatoon serviceberry contributed more than two-fifths of this total. <br />Mountain snowberry accounted for nearly one-third of this total. Other contributing species were <br />chokecherry, Rocky Mountain maple (Acerglabrum), and Gambel's oak. Native perennial forbs <br />accounted for 23.8 percent of total vegetation cover. Together, stinging nettle (Urtica gracilis ssp. <br />gracilis), Colorado violet (Viola scopulorum), mountain bluebells (Mertensia ciliata) and sweed <br />Cicely (Osmorhiza chilensis) accounted for more than half of this total. The remaining half was <br />comprised of minor contributions from seventeen other species. Native perennial cool season <br />grasses accounted for 13.4 percent of total vegetation cover. Blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus) was <br />the dominant species In this lifetorm and averaged more than two-thirds of the total. Other <br />contributors were Agassiz bluegrass, nodding brome (Bromopsis Porten) and mountain brom€. <br />Native annual and biennial forbs contributed 0.3 percent of total vegetation cover. Hound's <br />tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), an introduced biennial torb, averaged 1.0 percent of total <br />vegetation cover. <br />Total vegetation cover was 85.6 percent. Standing dead, litter, and bare soil cover values were <br />1.2, 9.6, and 3.6 percent respectively. Species density averaged 23.2 species per 100 sq. m. <br />Herbaceous Production (Table 11) <br />Total herbaceous production averaged 1,870.0 pounds per acre. <br />Mountain Brush Extended Reference Area <br />(Photographs 17 through 20) <br />Cover (Table 12) <br />Native shrubs comprised 59.5 percent of total vegetation cover in this reference area. Gambel's <br />oak accounted for nearly half and mountain snowberry averaged almost one third of this total. <br />Together, Saskatoon serviceberry and chokecherry contributed one-seventh of this lifeform's <br />total. Big sagebrush and Douglas rabbitbrush, were also present in measurable quantities. <br />Native perennial cool season grasses averaged 28.2 percent of total vegetation cover. Agassiz <br />bluegrass contributed nearly three-fifths of this total. Slender wheatgrass, Montana wheatgrass <br />(Elymus lanceolatus fm. albicans) and Elk sedge (Carex geyen) were also abundant species in <br />this lifeform. Eight other species made relatively minor contributions. Native perennial forbs <br />contributed 10.1 percent of total vegetation cover. Together, arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza <br />sagittata) and western yarrow (Achilles lanulosa) contributed one-sixth of the total. Nineteen <br />other species made relatively minor contributions. Hound's tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), an <br />introduced annual/biennial forb, averaged 0.9 percent of total vegetation cover. Cheatgrass <br />(Anisantha tectorum), an introduced annual grass, contributed 0.7 percent of total vegetation <br />cover. Native annual and biennial forbs contributed 0.4 percent of total vegetation cover. Moss <br />contributed 0.2 percent to total vegetation cover. <br />Total vegetation cover was 72.2 percent. Standing dead, litter, bare soil, and rock averaged 2.4, <br />16.8, 7.8, and 0.8 percent respectively. Species density averaged 26.3 species per 100 sq. m. <br />Herbaceous Production (Table 13) <br />Total herbaceous production averaged 1,488.2 pounds per acre. <br />Sagebrush Extended Reference Area <br />(Photographs 21 through 24) <br />Cover (Table 14) <br />Native shrubs were dominant in this area and provided 56.9 percent of total vegetation cover. Big <br />sagebrush averaged more than one-half of this total. Mountain snowberry contributed two-fifths <br />of the total. Saskatoon serviceberry, rubber rabbitbrush, bitterbrush and chokecherry comprised <br />