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• lower in 1988 (70.9 percent), and substantially lower in 1989 (48.4 percent). See 1989 <br /> cover tables in Appendix 1 and the 1987 and 1988 Revegetalion Monitoring Rpeorts for the <br /> Seneca II Mine. The lower 1989 vegetation cover reflects a change of 24 percentage points from <br /> the vegetation cover measured in 1987. The change in cover from 1987 to 1989 for the <br /> Sagebrush Reference Area was nearly the same as the reclaimed areas at approximately 25 <br /> percentage points. The Sagebrush Reference Area, like the reclaimed area is dominated by <br /> herbaceous and small shrub species. By comparison, the Mountain Brush Reference Area, <br /> dominated by heavy woody cover, dropped by only 9.7 points, all attributable to the relatively <br /> small herbaceous component. Since much of woody cover is comprised of non-living structural <br /> biomass and herbaceous plants must produce thier structural biomass anew each year in <br /> accordance with growing conditions, it is expectable that stressful conditions, such as the <br /> drought of the past few years (see Climatic Conditions under Discussion, below) would be <br /> reflected earliest in herbaceous vegetation. In addition, the extra moisture afforded by the <br /> shelter of adjacent cliffs, and possible subirrigation originating as runoff from the cliffs, tends <br /> to further render the Mountain Brush Reference area less directly sensitive to fluctuations in <br /> precipitation. The cover standard set by the mountain brush reference area thus tends to be <br /> • artificially high, and especially so in dry times. Use of this reference area as a representative of <br /> the mountain brush type may not be a realisitic evaluation of revegetation success. <br /> Area D (the Wadge Pasture) had the highest cover at 70.6 percent, significantly higher than any <br /> other reclaimed area. Along with Areas C (55.8 percent cover) and E (49.0 percent cover), <br /> Area D exceeded the cover standard set by the Sagebrush Reference Area lie. 90% of the mean <br /> cover in that area). Lowest percent cover was found in the youngest reclaimed areas. These <br /> included the 1987 Wolf Creek area, Area F at 39.0 percent cover and the 1987 Wadge area, Area <br /> H a143.0 percent cover. In addition, the 1977 Wadge reclaimed area (Area B)had similar cover <br /> (41.1 percent cover). The pre-law area (Area A) with 45.5 percent cover, exceeded the cover <br /> in the post-law years (Area B). Cover in the Mountain Brush and Sagebrush Reference Areas <br /> was 80.1 and 63.2 percent, respectively. <br /> Litter cover was similarly abundant in all the reclaimed areas more than two years old, varying <br /> from 33.0 percent (1985 and 1986 Wolf Creek, Area E) to 42.4 percent (1977 Wadge, Area <br /> B). An exception occurred in the Wadge Pasture (Area D) where fitter at 20.5 percent was only <br /> about half of similar-aged Wadge reclamation (Areas B and C). The youngest reclamation <br /> 7 <br />