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3.4 Juniper Scrub Community <br />This community type comprises 580.1 acres (4.26%) of the vegetation study area as indicated on <br />Map V1 and is located on the steeper slopes in the drier, rockier, and skeletal soil covered northern <br />portions of the study area. As indicated on Table V1, a total of 77 plant species were documented from <br />this community type in the baseline study area and 51 taxa in the reference area. No sensitive species <br />were observed within this area, while the noxious weeds musk thistle and houndstongue were observed <br />in the study area. Plates V13 through V16 provide photographic documentation of this community in the <br />study area, as well as the reference area, at the time of sampling. <br />3.4.1 Juniper Scrub Baseline Study Area <br />Review of Table V6 and Chart V1 indicates that the average vegetation cover of the Juniper Scrub <br />community was 34.69%. Litter and rock provided an average of 19.9% and 14.9% of the ground cover, <br />respectively, while bare ground exposure averaged 30.5%. The dominant plant species were Wyoming <br />big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentate subsp. wyomingensis), Griffith's wheatgrass (Elytrigia albicans), <br />cheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, and western wheatgrass with 6.6%, 3.9%, 3.8%, 2.5% and 2.1% of <br />the ground cover, respectively. Perennial plants (excluding noxious weeds) contributed 83% of the total <br />plant cover (28.75% average cover) while annual species and noxious weeds contributed 17% and 0.0% <br />of the composition, respectively. Perusal of Table V10 indicates that a total of 6 perennial species <br />contributed at least 3% relative cover or composition (3% is the typical lower limit for plant diversity <br />bond release evaluations). Five of those species were grasses and one was a shrub. <br />Review of Tables V11 and Chart V3 indicates that the average herbaceous production of this area in <br />2005 was 213 pounds per acre, oven-dry weight. Ninety percent (192 pounds per acre) of the total <br />herbaceous production is attributable to perennials, with grasses contributing 152 lbs./acre, forbs <br />providing 35 lbs./acre, and sub-shrubs adding 5 lbs./acre. Ten percent (20 pounds per acre) of the total <br />production is attributable to annuals, with grasses contributing 13 lbs./acre and forbs providing 8 <br />lbs./acre. Noxious weeds contributed 0.1% or 0.3 pounds per acre to the average herbaceous <br />production. <br />Perusal of Tables V12 and Chart V4 indicates that the estimated woody plant density in this area <br />was 2,395 woody plants per acre. The shrub lifeform accounts for 90% of the total (2,168 plants per <br />acre) with sub-trees contributing 3% of the total (65 plants per acre) and the remaining 7% attributed to <br />trees (163 per acre). Wyoming big sagebrush was the dominant woody species with 817 plants per acre <br />CIEDARCMIEKA SOCU S, INC. Page 23 2005 Collom Vegetation Survey