Highlight: Two contrasting plant communities occur on the Arid Lands Ecology (ALE) Reserve in south-central Washington, one dominated by a mixture of sagebrush and bluebunch wheatgrass and the other by a nearly pure stand of cheatgrass. At the beginning of the spring growing season in 1974, a year of aboveaverage precipitation, both communities had about the same amount of soil water stored in the first 18 dm of the soil profile. During the growing season, the quantity of soil water used by the sagebrush-bunchgrass and cheatgrass communities was 15 and 8 cm, respectively. The difference in soil water used by the two communities is attributed to a deeper root system and a longer growing period by plants of the sagebrush-bunchgrass community. Two different self-sustaining plant communities occur on the Ritzville silt-loam soil on the Arid Lands Ecology (ALE) Reserve located in south-central Washington. One is dominated by perennial species, the other by annual species. Native stands of sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass (Artemisiu tridentutu-Agropyron spicatum) are dominated by perennials. Agricultural fields abandoned 30 years ago are composed mostly of alien annual species, especially cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum). The cheatgrass community occupies a gentle, east-facing slope located at an elevation of 305 m above mean sea level; the bluebunch wheatgrass occurs on comparable slopes at an elevation of 396 m. This investigation describes the pattern of water depletion fi-om soil profiles of the sagebrush*-bluebunch wheatgrass and cheatgrass communities during 1974, a year of above-average precipitation. Methods Soil samples for gravimetric moisture content were taken routinely to l-meter depth at l-decimeter increments between February and October, 1974, using a sand auger (National Research Council 1962). Centimeters of water contained in each increment of soil were obtained by multiplying the percent soil moisture by its bulk density. In April and October, sampling was done to 1.8 m to account for deep soil Authors are research scientists and section manager

Because of its use as a nuclear materials production area, the 800-kin 2 sagebrush steppe of the Columbia River Plain in Washington State has functioned as a quasinatural area protected from livestock grazing and agricultural development since 1944. Alien vegetation and animals have invaded the eastern Washington region in the past century and are currently represented in the Columbia River Plain. Investigations were undertaken to evaluate the distribution of alien species, particularly vegetation, and their relationships to other flora and fauna in this region.Recently disturbed areas were dominated by the alien annuals Russian thistle Salsola kali, tumble mustard Sisymbrium altissimum, prickly lettuce Lactuca serriola, and bur ragweed Ambrosia acanthicarpa. Oldfield habitats were composed almost entirely of the alien annual cheatgrass Bromus tectorum. Alien vegetation also comprised a portion of the flora in habitats that had not been disturbed or grazed by cattle in the past. Cheatgrass and spring whitlow-grass Draba verna were able to set seed in undisturbed habitats, whereas Russian thistle and tumble mustard seldom did. These two species continue as components of undisturbed habitat primarily through seed dispersal from disturbed sites.Old-fieM habitats support a depauperate fauna compared to undisturbed sagebrush steppe vegetation. Shrubnesting birds such as the sage sparrow Amphispiza belli were absent from old fields, and even ground-nesting species were found in abnormally low densities. Old fields supported relatively few mammal species, in part as a result of poor food supplies. Alien birds, the rock dove Columba livia and the European starling Sturnus vulgaris, visited undisturbed habitat, but did not nest there.No alien mammals were found in undisturbed sagebrush steppe vegetation; the only alien mammals found in the area, the house mouse Mus musculus and Norway rat Rattus norvegicus, being limited to riparian areas and the vicinity of buildings.Alien taxa are likely to remain a component of any quasi-natural area in the sagebrush steppe ecoregion.Conservation 0006-3207/94/$07.00 © 1994 Elsevier Science Limited, England. Printed in Great Britain Human disturbance need not be spatially extensive to maintain alien plants within undisturbed communities. Successional patterns after land disturbance produce conditions unfavorable for native fauna, but have not enhanced the distribution of alien fauna.

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. Neither the United States nor the Department of Energy, nor any of their employe, nor any of their contractors, subcontractors, or their employees, maker any warranty, express ar implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, cornpletenas or usefulness of m y information, apparatus, product or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privateiy owned rights. The views, opinions and conctusions contained in this report arc those of the contractor and do not necessarily represent those of the United Statn Government or the United States Department of Energy. PACIFIC NORTHWEST LABORATORY operated by BATTELLE for the UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Under Contract Of-ACW76Rt0 7830 hinted in tha United S t r t a of Amcrka A v a i l a h frm W i TatYlnkat tnlwauw krvin uniacd Lacs I3egmmcrR cd c-5235 Port Royd Wed Syxir%(idd, Virginia a 5 1

Highlight: A double sampling procedure was employed for obtaining more reliable weight estimates for leaves, flowering stalks, live wood, dead wood, various combinations of the preceding, and total phytomass of sagebrush shrubs. Easily obtained dimension measurements were related to harvest categories using regression analyses. Volume (length x width x height) and length measurements were the most highly correlated to phytomass. Double sampling reduced the variance of the mean phytomass estimates ranging from 33% to 80% for the various categories assuming optimum allocation. The precision achieved by combining dimension measurements with harvesting is significantly higher than by harvests without supporting dimensional measurements. Efforts to obtain reliable phytomass estimates for rangeland shrubs by harvest methods are time consuming and costly. One approach is to establish a relationship between one or a few easily obtained plant measurements and harvest data. This approach has been termed double sampling or dimension analysis. Aboveground phytomass has seldom been measured in desert shrubs. Harniss and Murray (1976) found a relationship between foliage of big sagebrush and the independent variables, circumference, and height of plant. A correlation (Z?' = 0.93) was obtained with the developed dry weight predictor to determine total phytomass estimates of sagebrush. Chew and Chew (1965) determined shrub weights of creosotebush (Larrea divaricata) in Arizona, and Ludwig et al. (1975) used a double sampling method involving dimension analysis to estimate phytomass on eight species of desert shrubs in New Mexico. The results show that volume and canopy area were generally suitable estimators. Medin (1960) used a crown diameterweight relationship to predict foliage phytomass in mountainmahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) shrubs on Colorado mule deer range. There appears to be little published data on phytomass sampling in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentutu) in the Pacific Northwest (Daubenmire 1970).

The objective of this report is to provide a comprehensive source of the best available information on Hanford Site sensitive and critical habitats and plants and animals of importance or special status, as defined in the "Hartford Site Baseline Risk Assessment Methodology" (DOE 1993a). " The information can be used in environmental evaluations for baseline risk assessments of the Site to determine the environmental effects of remedial actions and provide a basis for assessing the cumulative impacts of multiple actions. Pacific Northwest Laboratory and Westinghouse Hanford Company worked together to compile the information, which has been collected through basic research programs, monitoring programs, and educational endeavors. In this report, sensitive habitats include areas known to be used by threatened, endangered, or sensitive plant or animal species, wetlands, preserves and refuges, and other sensitive habitats outlined in the Hanford Site Baseline Risk Assessment Methodology. Potentially important species for risk assessment and species of special concern with regard to their status as threatened, endangered, or sensitive are described, and potential habitats for these species identified. The following primary habitat types for the Hanford Site are shown on maps and described according to vegetation association and topography: i vi 2.I Generalized Soils Map fortheHanford Site ..

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