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<br /> Cover <br />1984 Area in Percent <br />1988 Area <br />Combined <br />Total Vegetation Cover 25.0 +/- 4.34 33.3 +/- 6.59 30.8 +/- 7.06 <br />Litter and Rock Combined 46.0 +/- 7.38 33.6 +/-12.48 37.3 +/-12.45 <br />Hare Soil 29.0 +/- 5.18 33.1 +/-11.89 31.9 +/-10.37 <br />Total Cround Cover (Total <br />Vegetation + Litter) 71.0 +/- 5.18 66.9 +/-11.89 68.1 +/-10.37 <br />The development of vegetation on reclaimed lands can show striking <br />year to year differences, especially during the first two or three years <br />of growth. Comparisons of mean cover values from the last two growing <br />seasons (Tables 2,4, and 6) show some interesting relationships. The <br />areas seeded in 1984 (Table 2) show a high level of similarity between <br />the two years of data collection. Mean cover for the dominant species <br />(thickepike wheatgrase - Agropyron dasystachyum) was approximately the <br />same for each year (approximately 9.5 percent). Cover by perennial <br />grasses (both native and introduced combined) was slightly lees in 1990 <br />than in 1989, however this difference is not likely significant. Cover <br />by big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) increased from 4.7 percent in <br />1989 to 8.7 percent in 1990. This difference may not be statistically <br />significant, however, observations from the site suggest that cover by <br />big sagebrush is increasing. Cover increases appear to be occurring ae <br />a result of growth of existing plants as well ae the establishment of <br />new individuals. It ie interesting to note that total vegetation cover, <br />cover by litter and rock combined, and bare soil cover values were <br />nearly the same during 1989 and 1990. <br />The moat dramatic changes in the vegetation have occurred in the <br />areas reclaimed in 1988. Mean cover for native cool season grasses <br />