11 



CONCLUSIONS 



All of the studies reported on are still in progress, and 

 any conclusions must be considered tentative until more data has 

 been collected. Nonetheless, several trends are apparent and are 

 worthy of comment. Results of the long-term monitoring and soil 

 crust ecology studies suggest that livestock grazing on the 

 steep highly erodible slopes, where the transects were located, 

 is destructive, and is probably detrimental to the long-term 

 viability of Arabis f ecunda populations. Results of the knapweed 

 removal study suggest that, under certain circumstances, spotted 

 knapweed may be inhibiting recruitment of Arabis f ecunda 

 seedlings. Thus, both livestock grazing and knapweed 

 encroachment may pose a threat to populations of Arabis f ecunda . 



