2009-04-01_REPORT - C1994082 ‎(6)‎

• Permit No: C1994082
• IBM Index Class Name: REPORT
• Doc Date: 4/1/2009
• Doc Name: 2008 Annual Revegetation Monitoring Report
• From: Seneca Coal Company
• To: DRMS
• Permit Index Doc Type: Reveg Monitoring Report
• Email Name: DTM
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

•
J 1072.4 2.7
K 4261.4 3.1
L 756.8 4.0
M 4309.9 0.8
O 3035.2 12.3
P 1752.3 7.6
As can be seen, values ranged from 477 stems per acre to 4309 stems per acre. The area-
weighted average is just under 1700 stems per acre. Thus progress toward a shrub
concentration area standard of 1800 stems per acre is encouraging. Aside from areas planted
with nursery stock, other areas are present where natural invasion by shrub species is developing
in significant amount (see samples 1 and 2 in Table 4 and Table 42). In these areas, density
values equaling and exceeding the shrub concentration area standard are already present.
. Species Diversity and Composition
The data illustrated in Figure 5 show that the 2001 reclamation (the oldest) has predictably the
smallest amount of relative annual/biennial plant cover of the reclamation areas sampled in 2008
at Yoast Mine. The 2004 reclamation area has slightly less relative annual/biennial forb plant
cover than the 2001 reclaimed area but with the addition of introduced annual grasses has
slightly more relative annual/biennial plant cover over all. In 2003, when the 2001 reclamation
was only two years old, there was approximately four times as much relative cover by annuals
and biennials (ESCO 2004). In 2005, when the 2001 reclamation was four years old, interestingly
there was approximately five times as much relative cover by annuals and biennials (ESCO
2006). This increase in annual biennial cover in 2005 could be attributed to the abundant
precipitation received in June of 2005 (Figure 6b). When the 2004 reclamation was only two
years old in 2006, there was approximately three times as much relative cover by annuals and
biennials (ESCO 2007). This pattern is repeated in the 2006 reclamation sampled in 2008 which
has more than half of the relative cover comprised of annuals and biennials, as is typical of
younger reclamation (Figure 5).
The distribution of species density by lifeform (Figure 4) shows that the 2001, 2004, and 2006
Reclaimed Areas are more similar to the reference areas than would appear to be the case from
. the lifeform distribution of relative cover (Figure 5). This is important in that it shows that the
basic components of the original ecosystem have indeed been returned and that it is a matter of
20