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_ Cover in Percent <br /> 1984 Area 1988 Area Combined <br /> <br />Total Vegetation Cover 17.3 +/- 6.02 19.1 +/- 6.64 18.6 +/- 6.36 <br />Litter and Rock Combined 39.3 +/- 6.28 54.7 +/-11.55 50.1 +/-12.41 <br />Bare Soil 43.3 +/- 8.64 26.1 +/- 8.65 31.3 +/-11.67 <br />Total Ground Cover (Total <br />Vegetation + Litter) 56.7 +/- 8.64 73.7 +/- 8.65 68.7 +/-11.67 <br />The vegetation on the reclaimed areas at the Walden Coal Mine site <br />changed very little between 1990 and 1991. The major differences that <br />can be seen are changes in total vegetation cover, cover by litter and <br />rock and cover by bare soil (Tables 2, 4, and 6). These differences are <br />probably not related to changes in the vegetation, but rather to changes <br />related to grazing on the site during the 1991 growing season. Cattle <br />grazing on the site occurred ae a result of trespass grazing and was not <br />part of the management plan for the reclaimed areas. <br />The areas seeded in 1984 (Table 2) show a high level of similarity <br />between the first two years of data collection. The dominant grass <br />species in this area include thickepike wheatgrass (Acropyron <br />dasystachyum) and Russian wildrye (Elymus junceus). Mean cover for both <br />of these species decreased in 1991, moat likely as a result of livestock <br />grazing. Cover by all perennial grasses was lees in 1991 than in either <br />1989 or 1990. Cover by biq sagebrush (Artemisia tridentate) increased <br />from 4.7 percent in 1989 to 8.7 percent in 1990 and to 10.7 percent in <br />1991. Livestock grazing had little effect on sagebrush. The year to <br />year differences in cover by big sagebrush may not be statistically <br />significant, however, observations from the site suggest that cover by <br />big sagebrush ie increasing. Cover increases appear to be occurring ae <br />