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• Production <br />1998 production was virtually unchanged from 1997, again with no measurable <br />alfalfa. The observed levels would have exceeded the Seneca II performance <br />standard by about 150 Ib/ac. <br />Shrub Density <br />As can be seen in Table 3, the average shrub density was i 575 stems per <br />acre, virtually unchanged from the 1574 stems per acre observed in 1997. The <br />bulk of this density again was snowberry, ser4iceberry, bitterbrush, Woods <br />rose, and big sagebrush. As observed previously (ESCO 1998), fhis relatively <br />high shrub density relates to the direct seedin of shrubs at very high rates in <br />part of the area along with having sown little e[ no seed of herbaceous species. AS <br />The abundant and diverse presence of shrubs in this area bodes well for the <br />• future; perennial herbaceous competition does not become overwhelming. The <br />abundant presence of native perennial. herbaceous species likewise is also a <br />good sign for the liklihood.of woody species'' establishment since they are <br />generally less competitive than introduced perennial herbaceous species are. <br />Several years' monitoring data in this area indicate that the perennial plant <br />communities are developing slowly, perhaps at a rate similar to successional <br />patterns in native communities of the area. <br />Species Diversity and Composition <br />Species density reflects the total number of species present (richness) in 100 <br />square meters one meter to either side of the 50m cover sample transects. <br />Species density data are summarized in Table 5 . Mean species density of 29.0 <br />species/ 100 m2 was down from 33.5 species/ 100 m2 in 1997 which had been <br />• up slightly from 1996 levels (32.5 species/ 100 mZ). Even though down slightly <br />