2008-12-22_REPORT - C1980001 (2)

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2005 Edna Mine Vegetation Sampling Report 2. Reference Areas As described in the sampling plan, snowberry/sage and oak mountain shrub vegetation communities were the dominant vegetation communities within the mining disturbance area. The mining disturbance acreage within these two vegetation communities was measured in order to weigh vegetation parameter values based on their respective reference areas. This analysis determined that 83% of the disturbed area was snowberry/sage and 17% was oak mountain shrub. Snowberry/sage and oak mountain shrub reference areas were sampled in 2005 for herbaceous cover and herbaceous production. The mean herbaceous cover and herbaceous production values from these areas were used to establish weighted values. These weighed mean values were established using the following equation: Xw=(.83*Xss)+(.17*Xom ) Xw = weighted mean Xss = herbaceous cover or production mean of snowberry/sage reference area xom = herbaceous cover or production mean of oak mountain shrub reference area See Table 2-1 for a statistical summary of the reference areas. The weighed mean of the herbaceous cover standard was calculated to be 24.0% (83% of 24.1 + 17% of 23.7). The herbaceous production standard was calculated to be 80.3 g/m2 (83% of 87.6 + 17% of 44.4). The West Ridge BRU: Topsoiled and Moffat BRU: Topsoiled vegetation parameters were compared to the reference areas' weighed means to evaluate vegetation performance on the reclaimed lands. 2.1. Supporting Documentation Tables 2-1 through 2-5 summarize vegetation data and statistical tests for the snowberry/sage and oak mountain shrub reference areas. Tables 2-6 and 2-7 provide a list of the community plant species sampled at the respective reference areas. Figures 2- 1 and 2-2 are site photographs, and Figures 2-3 and 2-4 display transect location maps for the reference areas. Habitat Management, Inc. 3