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<br /> <br />-. <br /> <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />EXHIBIT n <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />SCIEN'l'H'IC INl"OW1NrTON <br /> <br />MEXJC^N CUT / GM.ENA M()UN'J',~ IN HgSgM~CJ1 PLU~SgHVI;; <br /> <br />ECOLOGICAl, llESCI< 1.!,'j'J.ON <br />..---.---.--.---.-.-..-.-..--- <br /> <br />Nexican Cut is a hanging valley (cirque) on the eastern side of <br />Galena Mountain. Galena Mountain is composed of alternating layers <br />of I",rtiallly motamorpl1os(!u li.mestone ilnd quart"ite which have been' <br />Lipped up and worn differentially by (Jlacial action. lis a result, <br />tI,,) topo'.J\'"p!1y of f1cxicnn Cut resembles a series of shelvcl:> of in- <br />creasing altitude Oll each of which lies a string of interconnected <br />ponds or tarns. At the top of the cirque lies Galena Lake nestled <br />between the two peaks of Galena l1ountain. <br /> <br />'rhe v(~getation of Nexican Cut. is characterized as a forest-tundra <br />ecotone - a transitional plant community with an open, subalpine forest <br />of Englemann spruce and alpine fir (Pice~ enSLell~~l_!., l\bi7~ <br />.J.asiocilrp~) at the lower levels; sparse, dwarfed spruce-f~r or <br />"'krumilo-lz' at the middle level; and sedgc-dominnted tundra at the <br />upper luvels around Galena l,ake and along the ridges. <br /> <br />~rhe most important component of the ecosystem at MCldcan Cut currently <br />under investigation is the pond complex. 'l'he lincmr arrays of ponds <br />at different levels oaeh have their own independent drainage patterns <br />ancl form it unique experimental series. 1\11 arc fed by snowmelt ilnd <br />riJ infi'lll f ilre CX(.lubed I sceJl1in~fly, to -the same c I.irna ti.c pressurCB, <br />i1nd yet of\:en contain dist.i.notly different fauna and flora. The boU.olilt <br />of some arl~,Garp('tell with I::.:ootes bolnnderi, a prim.l.t,ivo spore-bCdJ:.lllq <br />trachc,?phyt<;, pOliulnt~()ns'-(j'CTi1c s:-ilalllaillf,:ir, ~~~l'>J:.t!..~~I~l.',l. ~:!5!E,J:.!:"U!!!, ..- <br />have l~fe JHst:OI:~es wInch v,'ry from pond t.O pond, N')lUC<ln Cut hm:bC:Jl:f; <br />aL l'".:wt two typIC'; of life history not: cOlOmonly found in thilJ sp('ci.()f.; - <br />il l'l.'l)lpJl,J"tion or (he J.al'vdl pO.l'ioc.l and J:'opl'oduc:Li.vu maturity in tho <br />.Larval morpho '!'hcnl iln~ alGo two major plankt.on community typos IIv;d.Ii" <br />tained by a combination of b.i.olQ'JiCil1 and physical factors. 'l'he detai.l' <br />ed comparisons of these arc facilitated by the c:lC)8C proximity of <br />lJonc1s with differing cowmunity type!3 - Dn more 1:l1t,1I 50 yards apart, <br />'J'hc'iC features havc, uncl continue to, provide lUatel~ial for limnologici,l. <br />studi.es. <br /> <br />Studies of tet'restd.al ol'<janisms arc not as advancod as those of the <br />aqua tic communities, IJowevcr, l1exican Cu t has been shown to harbo): <br />"iSOlates" of the y",llow-belliod marmot which differs in life history <br />patterns dependent on altitude. Ants of the genun Formica also havCl <br />apparently c1evolopc<l p'lculiar li[o history patt(1J:ns--'it"diiii'Ec'd to high <br />altitudes. COlllpl'01wnsive vegetationill analyses havo been undertaken <br />only i.n the vicinily of the ponds 011 tbe lower levels of the cirque. <br />Further studies \v'ill be necessary to characteri:t.c the tundra plant <br />co~nunitius on the upper levels of Mexican Cut. <br />