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• increasing relative cover over the last four yeazs. Artemesia 61ifo1ia, a woody shrub, <br />also shows a generally increasing presence in this community. Phis may be related to <br />the proximity of native stands of this shrub upwind from the 1987 Reclamation Area. <br />Sages have tiny seed and are primarily dispersed through wind borne means. <br />Species numbers also appear to be directly related to precipitation amounts, as depicted <br />by the following numbers. <br />1994 1995 1996 1997 '96-97 total <br />decrease (E) <br />Jan-Jut Ppt 4.07 13.15 8.67 6.47 <br />% change (+/-) 223.1 -34.1 -25.4 -59.4 <br />/f Species % change (+/-) <br />osRA 157.1 -38.9 9.1 -29.8 <br />85Reclamation 72.7 -15.8 -18.8 -34.6 <br />86Reclamation 30.8 0 -29.4 -29.4 <br />87Reclamation 58.3 -30.0 -24.7 -54.7 <br />The Osgood Sand Reference Area responds with greater increases and decreases in <br />species numbers compared to the reclaimed azeas during favorable or unfavorable <br />precipitation regimes. This is likely related to the seed bank present within the native <br />• community. Community age also appears to play a role in species numbers changes, as <br />is generally evidenced by the greater changes in the 1985 Reclamation Area. <br />SUIVIl~IARY <br />Monitoring of the 1985, 1986, and 1987 Reclamation Areas and the Osgood Sand <br />Reference Area in 1995 showed that the reclaimed areas met or exceeded revegetation <br />success standazds for herbaceous production and species composition. Monitoring for <br />total vegetation cover revealed that none of the reclaimed azeas, for the first time in <br />four years, would meet the CDMG revegetation success standard for total vegetation <br />cover. <br />Based on the sampling conducted for vegetation cover, herbaceous production, and <br />species composition in 1995, it has been documented that the reclaimed and revegetated <br />azeas seeded in 1985, 1986, and 1987 have established a diverse, effective, and <br />permanent vegetation cover of the same seasonal variety native to the area and aze <br />capable of self-regeneration and plant succession in accordance with the requirements <br />of the Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act. <br /> <br />-18- <br />