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• As can be seen in Figure 2, the observed herbaceous production in the 2001 reclaimed areas <br />exceeded the production standard. The listed reclaimed area production figures are not <br />corrected as they would need to be in actual Phase III bond release testing for the presence of <br />annual/biennial species. The correction downward for "excess° annual/biennial species in the <br />2001 cover data (above) was about 18%. Since the measured production in the 2001 <br />reclamation area exceeded the standard by 45%, the annual/biennial correction would be <br />expected to still leave the allowable production value well above the standard. <br />Woody Plant Density <br />2003 data from the 2001 reclaimed area indicate the presence of about 1028 woody plant stems <br />per acre. This number exceeds the current standard of 900 stems per acre (1,000 x 0.9; Figure <br />3). This total is somewhat misleading in that the bulk of the average was caused by the <br />presence of copious aspen suckering at one of the sample sites (Photograph 1). It was apparent <br />that the excavation of this site along a haul road had been sufficiently shallow to leave a large <br />portion of an aspen clone root system which had vigorously resprouted. <br />Species Diversity and Composition <br />The 2001 reclaimed area is dominated by native perennial cool season grasses and native <br />• perennial (orbs (mostly titer milkvetch), comprising together almost 60 percent of total vegetation <br />cover (Figure 6). <br />The distribution of species density by lifeform (Figure 4) shows that the 2001 reclaimed areas are <br />more similar to the reference areas than would appear to be the case from the lifeform distribution <br />of relative cover (Figure 5). This is important in that it shows that the basic components of the <br />original ecosystem have indeed been returned and that it is a matter of relative proportions that <br />separates the reclaimed from the native vegetation. Perhaps the largest difference with regard to <br />species density is in the native perennial (orbs category, where native areas (at least the most <br />extensive native types of Mountain Brush and Sagebrush) tend to have half again to twice as <br />many species of native perennial fortis per 100 sq.m. Total species density in the 2001 reclaimed <br />areas is very close to that of the Sagebrush Seneca II-W Extended Reference Area and only a <br />few species per 100 sq.m. lower than the Aspen and Mountain Brush Extended Reference Areas. <br />• <br />10 <br />