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Production (Table 9) <br />• Total herbaceous production for all species other than alfalfa was 340.8 pounds per <br />acre. No alfalfa was observed in this native reference area. <br />Sagebrush Reference Area <br />(Photographs 10,13-14) <br />Cover (Table 10) <br />Native shrubs averaged 42.7 percent of total vegetation cover. Together, mountain <br />snowberry and big sagebrush averaged 95 percent this total. Saskatoon serviceberry, <br />Douglas rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) and alkali sagebrush (Seriphidium <br />arbusculum ssp. longilobum) accounted for the balance. Native perennial cool season <br />grasses averaged 38.4 percent of total vegetation cover. Fescue (Festuca saximontana) <br />and Agassiz bluegrass each contributed more than one-fourth of this total. The <br />remaining half was accounted for by slender wheatgrass, Montana wheatgrass (Elymus <br />lanceolatusfm. albicans), Letterman needlegrass (Achnaiherum lettermani~), and <br />oniongrass (Bromelica bulbosa). Native perennial (orbs averaged 18.2 percent of total <br />vegetation cover. Together, one-flower woodsunflower (Helianthella uniflora), Pacific <br />aster (Virgulaster ascendens), American vetch, western yarrow (Achilles lanulosa), and <br />weedy milkvetch (Astragalus miservar: oblongifolius) contributed more than two-thirds to <br />this total. Nine other species made measurable contributions. Introduced perennial cool <br />season grasses (in the form of smooth brome) contributed 0.7 percent of total vegetation <br />cover. Other lifeforms were present, but did not contribute measurably to total <br />vegetation cover. <br />• Total vegetation cover averaged 53.8 percent. Standing dead, litter, and bare soil <br />values averaged 5.8, 37.0, and 3.6 percent respectively. Species density was 28.5 <br />species per 100 sq. m. <br />Production (Table 11) <br />Total herbaceous production for all species other than alfalfa averaged 631.7 pounds <br />per acre. No alfalfa was observed in this native reference area. <br />Discussion <br />Climatic Conditions <br />The year 2000 growing season was preceded by a very dry fall and a slightly moister <br />than average winter. The growing season began with a moister than average March, <br />April, and May and then proceded to a very dry June and July (Figures 6a and 6b). <br />When the full 12 months preceding the July sampling is considered (Figures 7a and 7b), <br />the effects of the five very dry months leaves 2000 to be regarded as the second-driest <br />• of the fourteen year record. However, considering a shorter period, for example, six <br />