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• Mature conifers generally were 20-30 ft tall . Although visually
<br /> dominant , conifers contributed only 2.5 percent cover, owing to the patchiness
<br /> of their distribution.
<br /> Of the ten shrubs or subshrubs observed in Spruce/Fir Parkland
<br /> areas, the overwhelmingly dominant species was Thimbleberry Rubuj jMLvi4- 0rcv},
<br /> which frequently occurred in stands so dense and extensive that it essentially
<br /> formed a ground cover. Moreover, Thimbleberry provided 11.8 percent cover,
<br /> compared to 15.3 percent for all shrubs. The other two species providing
<br /> significant cover ( i .e. , greater than 1.0 percent ) were Mountain Snowberry
<br /> and Mi yr t I e B I ueberry VacciP,4 9 m�.
<br /> Dominant graminoids were Elk Sedge, Mountain Brome Ce/zatvGlLlva
<br /> ma/tg n.ata and Blue W i I drye, but the nodding bromes &zvmvpd.i j .iamati_pe4 and
<br /> 3. po zte/u and the b I uegrasses P oa aipin.a and P. azc i i.ca were also significant .
<br /> Total graminoid cover was 15 percent .
<br /> Forbs provided 36 percent cover, spread among a large number of
<br /> species. Prevalent forbs were Wi I d Strawberry f-:zaga/z.ia v.i,zgzru:arta, Suba I p i ne
<br /> Daisy 64jaerzon pe1z eg4-i n_u j, Soft C i n q u e f o i l Potent-aa gaac'U-A var. ptz,�the z uma,
<br /> Wh i tef I ower Peav i ne, Porter Lovage, Smooth Daisy 64,Lg.ewn g,Labe l�, Showy
<br /> Daisy &Z-Lg.envn 4pecLoALL4, Butterweed, Northern Bedstraw SaZLum vv2ea,Ce,
<br /> Golden—eye Heiivme uA my Lti.�v2a, Rayless Arnica AjzrLi ca pa4An 4i.., Ta I I Daisy
<br /> C2ige2vrz e,Lati_v2, and the water I eaf HVd2vphy,L, fiend, eu. At a few cover
<br /> sample locations, the open meadows between conifer islands showed signs of
<br /> • extensive disturbance by pocket gophers and historic grazing by domestic
<br /> livestock. These areas contained a number of weedy increaser species, such
<br /> as Yarrow Ac,u Lea .Canu,4oAa, Fireweed Clzame/,iort aagcA-ti4.0.Lulm, B i g f lower G i I !a
<br /> Cv.Uorni.a iineavi , Common D a n d e I ion ra/zaxacan 0,'_ i_cina.Ce, Tansy Mustard
<br /> Qe,jcuAai.,ua ltLcha zdjvn. _L, St i ckseed Lappu.la lzedvw4ha, Ye I I ow Sa I s i f y
<br /> I,zagvpoaotj du&iuA, and the valerians Vaje/z.i.ana edu.LiA and V. capitcta.
<br /> Detailed cover data for Spruce/Fir Parkland are presented in
<br /> Table 7. Figure 6 illustrates a typical sample area.
<br /> Production in this community was dominated by Elk Sedge (8.5 g/m2) ,
<br /> Porter Lovage (7.6 g/m2) , Blue Wi ! drye (6.3 g/m2) , Canada Reedgrass CalarzaglzoAti i
<br /> canader?4.A (3.7 g/m2) , and Wild Strawberry (3.6 g/m2) . Total production
<br /> (56.9 g/m2) was. divided almost evenly between graminoids and forbs. Produc—
<br /> tion data are provided in Table 8.
<br /> Shrubs were present in densities of 31,984/ha. Two low species,
<br /> Myrtle Blueberry and Thimbleberry, provided roughly 60 percent and 27 percent
<br /> of this total , respectively. The average height for all shrubs was about
<br /> 54 cm. Trees included a variety of conifers and shrubby deciduous species.
<br /> Both Engelmann Spruce and Subalpine Fir were present in 92 percent of the
<br /> samples. Quaking aspen was significantly less common. Total tree density for
<br /> affected areas averaged 430 /ha. Moody plant data for this community type are
<br /> shown in Table 9.
<br /> —12—
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