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wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii), sheep fescue (Festuca brachyphylla ssp. coloradensis) and <br />basin wildrye (Leymus cinereus). Introduced perennial forb cover total 'was composed mostly of <br />• alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Introduced perennial cool season grass cover was predominantly <br />composed of intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium). <br />Total average vegetation cover for first hits was 56.4 percent. For herbaceous vegetation, total <br />average cover for first hits was 55.3 percent. Cover by standing dead, litter, bare soil and rock <br />averaged 0.33, 25.5, 16.4 and 1.4 percent, respectively. Average species density was 27.0 <br />species per 100 sq. m. <br />WOODY PLANT DENSITY - BACKGROUND <br />(Table 2) <br />Total average background woody plant density in 2009 Phase II Bond Release Block was 331.8 <br />stems per acre. Big sagebrush (Seriphidium tridentatum) was the densest at 206.4 stems per <br />acre. Mountain snowberry (Symphoricarpos rotundifolius, including some western snowberry S. <br />occidentalis) contributed 59.5 stems per acre to the total. Six other species of shnih were <br />present, each with densities of fewer than 100 stems per acre. Because of the extremely <br />heterogeneous nature of the presence of shrubs across the Phase II BRB landscape, with <br />shrubless areas commonly encountered in addition to areas with dense shrub presence, <br />• achievement of statistical adequacy for the "background" sampling of shrub density is virtually <br />impossible. <br />Reference Areas <br />ASPEN REFERENCE AREA <br />(Photographs 17-20) <br />Cover <br />(Table 3) <br />Native shrubs and native perennial forbs were the predominant lifeforms observed in the Aspen <br />Reference Area, comprising 36.6 and 31.2 percent respectively of total first-hit vegetation cover. <br />Of this, Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) comprised 16.4 percent, mountain <br />snowberry (Symphoricarpos rotundifolius) comprised 14.2 percent, mountain bluebells (Mertensia <br />ciliata) comprised 7.7 percent and western aniseroot (Osmorhiza occidentalis) comprised 5.1 <br />percent of total first-hit vegetation cover. Native perennial cool season arasses were also <br />• common (6.4 percent cover of total first-hit vegetation cover). Quaking aspen (Populus <br />tremuloides) was an important component of the vegetation, comprising 22.7 percent of total first- <br />hit vegetation cover. In general, this area had high cover values because of the prevalence of <br />9