Roundup, Montana 



Location 



Musselshell Co., MT; Sec. 21, R. 26 E., T. 6 N.; GPS-UTM 5125394 N, 694957 E. 

 About 14 miles south of Roundup. 



From Roundup, travel south about 14 miles on U.S. Highway 87. One hundred yards south of mile 

 marker 34, turn right (west) on Majerus Road (gravel road). Follow road 0.6 mile, then turn left 

 (east) onto tertiary, unimproved trail. Continue about 0.2 mile on tertiary road. Photopoint is on 

 top of high rock ledge, located about 100 yards south of the tertiary road. 



Description 



August 12, 1999 



Rock Ledge 



Grasses. Agropyron 

 spicatwn 



Forbs. Erigeron spp. 



Rock Ledge to Highway 



(bottom right of photo) 



Grasses. Agropyron smithii, 

 Stipa comata, Bouteloua 

 gracilis, Bromusjaponicus, 

 Poa pratensis 



Shrubs and Trees. 



Chrysothamnus nauseosus, 

 Artemisia cana, Gutierrezia 

 sarothrae, Pinus ponderosa 



Synopsis 



The greatest apparent vegetation 

 change is in the size of the Pinus 

 ponderosa trees throughout the 

 area. Reduced P. ponderosa 

 cover on the right-hand side of 

 1998 photo shows results of a 

 1984 fire. The apparent reduc- 

 tion in cover on the left-hand 

 portion of the photo was not 

 readily apparent during the 

 1998 and 1999 on-site visits; no 

 explanation is offered other than 

 the camera angle in 1998 was 

 slightly different than those in 

 1918 and 1958 photos, or recent 

 housing development projects 

 are thinning out the trees (note 

 houses in upper center portion 

 of photo). Although descriptions 

 of vegetation are missing from 

 early in the century, current 

 composition suggests gradual 

 intrusion of Poa pratensis and 

 Bromusjaponicus, two invasive 

 species. The road cut, near the 

 center right of the 1998 photo, 

 is parallel to U.S. Highway 87. 



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