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Production <br />Only the herbaceous component was sampled for annual production in both the reclaimed and <br />reference areas. Because the reference areas are both dominated by woody plants, the <br />herbaceous component of production is small and is greatly exceeded by the production of the <br />reclaimed areas where woody plants comprise only a small amount of total vegetation <br />composition (Figure 2). Whether or not the large annual herbaceous production of the <br />reclaimed areas equals or exceeds the total (woody plus herbaceous }annual production of the <br />reference areas is unknown. <br />I <br />Over the period of 1987 to 1991, the levels of production observed have varied as follows: <br />Production (oven-dry Ibs per acre) <br />AREA 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 <br />All 1988.2 2257.2 1343.2 2303.2 2204.2 2747.0 2946.6 <br />Wedge Pasture - - - - - 3049.5 2200.5 2740.7 2874.0 3163.7 3567.0 <br />Sagebrush Ref. 1372.2 1211 .6 508.8 1251 .6 1231 .6 876.1 1454.3 i <br />Mtn. Brush Ref. 651.3 1125.9 416.0 615.2 724.3 1147.4 781.6 <br />From the above data, it is apparent that after a low point in 1989, a recovery in production <br />occurred in 1990 and continued or stabilized in 1991. In 1992, reclaimed area production in <br />the Mountain Brush Reference Area rose while that of the Sagebrush Reference Area fell. In <br />1993 the opposite was observed. Variations in production in the Mountain Brush Reference <br />Area may reflect year to year random chance of samples falling in the heaviest oak- <br />serviceberry stands, which tend to have relatively little herbaceous production, because of the <br />typically heavily shaded and, consequently, sparse understory. <br />Production data from 1993 show the highest biomass production during the entire period of <br />record, despite the fact that total vegetation cover, though high, is not as high as was observed in <br />1987 and 1988. This may be the resuR of greater vertical growth of herbaceous plants in both <br />the reclaimed and reference areas, facilitated by abundant moisture (Figure 7) and moderately <br />warm temperatures (Figure 10). <br />The abundant herbaceous production of the reclaimed areas provides a significant grazing <br />resource. Since, for the most part, woody species, especially old growth, offer little that <br />grazing animals find palatable, the reclaimed areas as they presently exist are closely <br />i <br />25 <br />