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• Over the period of observation at the Seneca II-W Mine, total vegetation cover in the 1991/1993 <br />reclamation area was 54.8, 32.5 and 45.9 in 1995, 1996, and 1997, respectively. When <br />examined from the standpoint of what climatic indices seemed to have correlated most closely <br />between total vegetation cover at the Seneca II-W Mine and the favorable growing conditions of <br />1995, 1996 and 1997, it would appear that the Total Precipitation for the Previous 6 months <br />(Figure 3) or the Total Precipitation for the Previous 4 Months (Figure 4) were better predictors <br />than the Total Precipitation for the Previous 12 Months (Figure 2). Both Figures 3 and 4 <br />showed that 1995 was greatly superior to other years and this corresponds to the extremely <br />high levels of vegetation growth that were observed in 1995. 1996 shows up as somewhat less <br />favorable (previous 6 months, Figure 3) or considerably less favorable (previous 4 months, <br />Figure 4). 1997 approached 1995 on previous 6 months graph (Figure 3) and is second only to <br />1995 on the previous 4 months graph (Figure 4). The observed drop in cover in 1996 and its <br />rise again in 1997 would appear to support the importance of both the previous 4 months' and 6 <br />months' precipitation were the most influential. Figure 5 indicates that 1997 was a very cool <br />year, distinctly cooler than any year since 1986. Cool temperatures, combined with abundant <br />precipitation would be expected to enhance productivity of the primarily cool-season plant cover <br />• in both reclaimed and native areas. <br />• <br />9 <br />