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Vegetation Cover <br />Total vegetation cover of the reference area was 50.20 percent. Graminoids provided <br />20.80 percent mean cover (36.08% relative cover), forbs represented 3.00 percent mean <br />cover (4.83% relative cover), succulents provided 0.20 percent mean cover (0.57% <br />relative cover), and one woody shrub was the dominant species in the community with <br />26.20 percent mean cover and 58.52 percent relative cover. <br />The dominant vascular plant species of the reference area was Artemisia filifolia. <br />Artemisia frlifolia accounted for 26.20 percent of the mean cover and 58.52 percent <br />relative cover. Stipa viridula provided the second highest cover with 5.60 percent mean <br />cover and 9.94 percent relative cover. Calamovilfa longifolia with 5.00 percent total <br />cover (8.24% relative cover) and Andropogon hallii with 3.80 percent total cover (7.67% <br />relative cover) contributed nearly equally. In addition to the above species, Bouleloua <br />gracilis was the only other species contributing more than three percent relative cover <br />(3.20% total cover and 5.68% relative cover). <br />Vegetative litter (prior years growth, dead wood, and other biologic organic material) <br />comprised an average 35.80 percent ground cover within the reference azea. Baze soil <br />comprised 13.60 percent of the ground cover encountered in the reference area. No rock <br />was encountered during this year's cover sampling. Cryptogams accounted for a small <br />percentage of ground cover (0.40%). <br />Herbaceous Production <br />Total herbaceous production at the Osgood sand reference area was 86.53 g/m2 (771.3 <br />Ib/ac). Perennial grasses accounted for the majority of reference area herbaceous <br />production, comprising 77.48 g/m2 (690.6 Ib/ac) or 89.5 percent of total herbaceous <br />production. Annual grasses contributed 4.8 percent of the total herbaceous production <br />(4.17 g/m2 or 37.2 Ib/ac). Forbs accounted for 4.88 g/m2 (43.5 lb/ac) of the reference <br />azea herbaceous production. Annual forbs accounted for 1.08 g/m2 (9.6 ]b/ac) or 1.2 <br />percent of the total herbaceous production in the reference azea. Perennial forbs provided <br />3.80 g/m2 (33.9 Ib/ac) of the total production. <br />Species Composition <br />Within the reference area four lifeforms were represented; grasses, forbs, succulents, and <br />woody plants. The total number of species encountered during cover sampling within the <br />reference area was eleven. Graminoids accounted for six species, forbs three species, one <br />succulent species was encountered, and one shrub was present. Of the species <br />encountered in the reference azea, ten were native and one was introduced. Perennial <br />species outnumbered annual species by nine to two. Of the species encountered, six <br />represented greater than three percent relative cover; Artemisia filifolia (58.52%), Slipa <br />viridula (9.94%), Calamovilfa longifolia (8.24%), Andropogon hallii (7.67%), Bouteloua <br />• gracilis (5.68%), and Helianlhus annuus (4.26%). <br />-6- <br />