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Species Diversity and Composition <br />• The 1997 reclaimed area is dominated by native perennial cool season grasses and introduced <br />perennial (orbs (mostly alfalfa), comprising together over 60 percent of total vegetation cover <br />(Figure 5). <br />The distribution of species density by lifeform (Figure 4) shows that the 1997 and 2002 reclaimed <br />areas are more similar to the reference areas than would appear to be the case from the lifeform <br />distribution of relative cover (Figure 5). This is important in that it shows that the basic <br />components of the original ecosystem have indeed been returned and that it is a matter of <br />relative proportions that separates the reclaimed from the native vegetation. Perhaps the largest <br />difference with regard to species density is in the native perennial forbs category, where native <br />areas (at least the most extensive native types of Mountain Brush and Sagebrush) tend to have <br />half again to twice as many species of native perennial forbs per 100 sq.m. 2004 data from the <br />Total native species density in the 1997 reclamation areas was 18.7 species per 100 sq.m. in <br />2004, up more than 3 species per 100 sq.m. since year 2001 (15.5 species per 100 sq.m.; ESCO <br />2002). <br />Sample Adequacy <br />A summary of sample adequacy calculations for the parameters of cover, herbaceous production, <br />• and woody plant density is presented in Table 16 (Appendix 1). As can be seen in this table, the <br />data sets for cover in the 1997 reclamation area as well as the extended reference areas all <br />achieved sample adequacy. The very small 2002 reclamation area had only 5 samples, and did <br />not achieve adequacy. <br />LJ <br />12 <br />