Foreword

This study was conducted for the Commander, U.S. Army Garrison (USAG), Dugway Proving Ground, under Military Interdepartmental Purchase Request (MIPR) B2-6-8C833-B2-MB, Work Unit "Vegetation Mapping at Dugway Proving Ground." The technical monitor at the beginning of this study was Mr. Robert Johnson; the current point of contact is John Martin, STEDP-EP-CP.

The work was performed by the Ecological Processes Branch (CN-N) of the Installations Division (CN), U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL). The CERL Principal Investigator was Dr. Alison Hill; Mr. Verl Emrick performed the work. This research was supported in part by an appointment to the Research Participation Program at CERL administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and CERL. Dr. Harold E. Balbach is Chief, CECER-CN-N, and Dr. John T. Bandy is Operations Chief, CECER-CN. The technical editor was Gloria J. Wienke, Information Technology Laboratory.

The Director of CERL is Dr. Michael J. O'Connor.

Contents

SF 298 1

Foreword 2

1 Introduction 7
Background 7
Objective 8
Approach 9
Mode of Technology Transfer 9

2 Study Site 10
Installation History 10
Physical Setting 10
Soils 11
Climate 14
Dugway Proving Ground's Mission 14

3 Field Data Collection 15
Background 15
Releve Method at Dugway Proving Ground 16

4 Classification of Plant Communities 18
Synopsis 18
Data Preparation and Reduction 18
Multivariate Analysis 19
Procedures 20

5 Results and Discussion 23
Classification 23
Community Descriptions 25
Needle Leaved Evergreen Dwarf Open Woodland Formation 26
Great Basin Arid Shrubland Formation 28
Great Basin Cold Desert Chenopod Shrubland Formation 34
Great Basin Mixed Shrubland Formation 37
Great Basin Cold Desert Grassland Formation 38

6 Summary and Conclusions 41

7 Recommendations 42

References 43

Appendix 47

Distribution

List of Figures and Tables

Figures

1 Steps in the landscape-guided approach to vegetation mapping described by Zonneveld (1988). 8

2 Location of Dugway Proving Ground. 12

3 Schematic of the steps in the multivariate analysis procedure. 19

4 Similarity relationship of the identified associations at DPG calculated by MDS. 21

5 Needle leaved evergreen dwarf open woodland formation. 26

6 Schematic of the distribution of the identified Utah juniper associations in relation to recognized environmental gradients at Dugway Proving Ground. 27

7 Great Basin arid shrubland formation. 28

8 Schematic of the distribution of the identified sagebrush associations in relation to recognized environmental gradients at Dugway Proving Ground. 29

9 Schematic of three closely related associations distributed along an elevational and soil moisture gradient. 30

10 Great Basin cold desert Chenopod shrubland formation 34

11 Schematic of the distribution of the Chenopod-dominated associations identified at Dugway Proving Ground in relation to soil salinity and depth to water table. 35

12 Great Basin mixed shrubland formation. 37

13 Great Basin cold desert grassland formation. 38

Tables

1 Major steps in the approach to mapping DPG's vegetation and how responsibilities were divided. 8

2 Modified Braun-Blanquet cover abundance scale and class midpoints. 17

3 Hierarchical classification and frequency of DPG plant communities. 24

4 Other classifications of the associations identified at DPG. 25

A-1 Mean vegetative cover and constancy of the most common species at DPG in the 26 identified associations and 1 formation at DPG. 47

A-2 Elevation, slope, and occurrence of the 26 identified associations and 1 formation occurring at DPG 52