APPENDIX E 



Circle West Dendritic Coulee Habitat Description 



This study is designed to fulfill three objectives: first, to provide a 

 quantitative, premining description of the dendritic coulee habitats in the 

 permit area, including topographic structure, species composition and density, 

 autecological distribution of key species, vertical layering, and wildlife cover 

 suitability; second, to investigate the major topoedaphic factors related to the 

 presence of the tall shrub type; and third, to investigate the age, origin, 

 reclaimability, and trend of the coulee system in the study area. The last 

 objective cannot be fully met until simultaneous geology, soils, and hydrology 

 studies have begun. Nevertheless, the present study will provide some 

 preliminary hypotheses and a basis for future interdisciplinary study. 



Several different coulees should be selected for study. Most of these 

 should be densely vegetated, deeply cut coulees," generally with a northeast 

 aspect, within the coulee system outlined in Figure 23. Some of the sparsely 

 vegetated west- and south-facing coulees just over the Nelson-McGuire Creek 

 divide also should be studied to provide data on coulees with different slopes 

 and aspects. Transects should be drawn perpendicular to the direction of flow 

 across each coulee on 1:4,800 topographic maps. These transects should be sited 

 as follows: beginning at the head of each coulee or each side branch over 65 m 

 long, transects should be drawn at intervals of 5, 10, 15, 50, 100, 100, 

 100... meters downs lope. The transects thus drawn should be investigated in the 

 field, and those that are located at the junctions of coulee arms and are 

 otherwise unrepresentative, or are duplicative, should be dropped until 

 approximately 200 transects, representing a variety of slope, aspect, and 

 vegetative conditions, remain. 



At each transect, a number of topographic and vegetative features should be 

 described on a data sheet similar to that shown in Figure 26. These should 

 include: aspect, sideslope, drainage steepness, depth, width, distance to 

 drainage head, general vegetation type, intensity of livestock use, and 

 elevation. Twelve 2 x 5 dm plots should be located at standard positions along 

 each transect, as shown in Figure 26. Pairs of plots should be located in 

 corresponding positions on the left and right sides of the coulee as follows: 1 

 m and 3 m upslope from the coulee rim; 1 m and 3 m upslope from the outer edge 

 of the coulee bottom; and 1 m and 3 m toward the center of the coulee from the 

 outer edge of the coulee bottom. In cases where two plots would overlap because 

 the coulee is too narrow or shallow and an overlap cannot be avoided, a new plot 

 should be established midway between their centers. Data from this new plot 

 should be entered for both of the original plots. 



At each of the plots, the vertical structure of vegetation should be 

 measured using the profile board technique developed by Nudds (1977). Intervals 

 used should be 0-25 cm, 25-50 cm, 50-100 cm, 100-200 cm, and 200+ cm. The 

 proportion of each interval covered by each plant species and by all vegetation 

 in the study plot should be estimated to be nearest 5% and recorded. (Note: 

 the total coverage should equal the sum of the proportions of coverage of 

 individual species and should never exceed 100%.) Readings should be taken from 

 a point exactly 7 m downstream from the profile board. For plots situated on 

 steep coulee walls, care should be taken to read the profile boards with eye 

 level at about 180 cm. These data should be used to determine foliage height 



-70- 



