occurs mostly along the stream bottoms and 

 along the ridges. Vegetation cover averages 51 

 percent, but varies from 35 to 73 percent. Up 

 to 44 percent bare ground may be found in 

 some areas. Major species include: California 

 brome, smooth brome, orchard grass, Ken- 

 tucky bluegrass, June grass, bluebell, sweet- 

 pea, goldenrod, aster, lupine, false hellebore, 

 wyethia, tarweed, and catchweed. 



Mountain Brush 



Small patches of mountain brush (fig. 9) 

 are scattered throughout both study areas, 

 but the brush is more prevalent on the south- 

 west-facing side slopes above the stream bot- 

 toms. This type occupies 7 percent of the 

 East Branch and 11 percent of the West 

 Branch, and the stands are quite dense and 

 difficult to penetrate. Vegetation and litter 

 cover nearly 70 percent of the ground. The 

 major brush species are chokecherry, snow- 

 berry, and serviceberry. Other associated spe- 

 cies are: tarweed, California brome, pepper- 

 weed, bluebell, aster, wyethia, and eriogonum. 



Sagebrush -Grass 



The sagebrush type (fig. 10) is largely re- 

 stricted to a narrow band between the aspen 

 and the ridge line; the sagebrush type occurs 

 on 15 percent of the East Branch but on only 

 4 percent of the West Branch. Although vege- 

 tation covers about 50 percent of the ground 

 on both watersheds, the percent of litter for 

 sagebrush is the lowest of any of the six vege- 

 tation types. Sagebrush has a higher percent 

 of rock (25%) and rock-bare ground combina- 

 tion (45%) than any other type. Common as- 

 sociates in this type are: snowberry, manzan- 

 ita, wild rose, rabbitbrush, buckwheat, aster, 

 paintbrush, geranium, lupine, June grass, Cali- 

 fornia brome, and Western wheatgrass. 



Wet Meadow 



The wet meadow (fig. 11) is a very small 

 but distinctive vegetation type that occupies 

 only 0.8 percent and 2 percent of the East 

 and West Branches, respectively. Where this 



Figure 9. — Mountain brush community. Chicken Creek watersheds. 



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