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respectively). Native perennial cool season grasses were the third most <br />abundant group (10.7% cover). Agassiz bluegrass (Poo agassizensis), western <br />wheatgrass, and slender wheatgrass were the most abundant of this group. <br />Total average vegetation cover, for first hits, was 55.5%. Herbaceous vascular <br />plant cover, for all hits, was 23.9%. Standing dead, litter, bare soil, and rock <br />each had 2.8%, 28%, 13.7%, and 0% cover, respectively (first hits). Average <br />species density was 26.3 species/100 sq.m. <br />PRODUCTION <br />(Table 12) <br />No alfalfa was present in our sample. Total average production of all other <br />species was 1,547.1 Ibs/acre. <br />DISCUSSION <br />• Climatic Conditions <br />The year preceding sampling in July 2005 included a fall with a very wet <br />September and a winter and spring mostly near average except for June 2005 <br />which was more than twice as wet as average (Figures 6a and 6b). When <br />compared to other years (back to 1997) in which monitoring has occurred, both <br />the cumulative 12 months and 6 months total precipitation prior to sampling in <br />2005 ranked near the center of the nineteen years of record {Figures 7a, 7b, 8a, <br />and 8b). The cumulative four-month (Figure 9b) precipitation values back to 1987 <br />show that 2005 was 27% above the 19-year average. With regard to <br />temperature, cumulative January through June 2005 warmth was distinctly above <br />average (Figure 10). <br />Cover <br /> <br />Observed cover values and derivation of the 2005 herbaceous cover•standard <br />are compiled/documented in the table below: <br />12 <br />