Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />'. <br /> <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />EXHIBIT n <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />SCIEN'l'H'IC T.Nl"OW1NrTON <br /> <br />MEXJC^N CUT / GM,ENA M()UN'J',~ IN HgSgM~CJ1 PLU~SgHVI;; <br /> <br />ECOLOGICAl, llESCI< 1.!,'j'JON <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 limestone ilnd quart"ite which have been' <br />Lipped up and worn differentially by (Jlacial action. lis a result, <br />tll') topo'.J\""p!1y of f1<.'xicun 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 />lasiocilrp~) at the lower levels; sparse, dwarf0d 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 serios. 1\11 arc fed by snowmolt and <br />riJ infi'lll f ilre CX(.lubed I sceJl1in~fly, to -the same c I.irna ti.c pressurCB, <br />i'lnd yet of\:cn contain distinctly different fauna and flora. The bol:Lolilt <br />of some arl~,Garp('tell with I::,:ootes bolnnderi, a prim.l.t,i.vo spore-bCdJ:.lllq <br />trachc,?phyt<;" PQliulut~()ns'"(j'CTi1"c s:11alllaillf,:ir, ~~~l'>J:.t!..~~I~l.',l. ~~JO.J:.!1U!!!, ". <br />have l~fe JHstOI:~es wInch v,'ry from pond t,o pond" N')lu.C<ln Cut hm:boJ,'f; <br />ilL l'".:wt two typIC'; of life history not cOlOmonly found in thilJ sp('ci,()f.; - <br />il l'l.'l)lpJl,J;ltion or (he Larval periotl and J:"eproduc:Li,vu maturity in tho <br />lal'vill morpho '!'hcnl iln~ alGo two major plankt.on community typos IIv;d,li" <br />tained by a combination of b.i.olQCjicill and physical Cilctors. 'l'he detiliJ.. <br />cd comparisons of these arc facilitated by the c:lc)sc proximity of <br />lJonc1s with differing cowmunity type!3 - DC) more 1:11':'11 50 yards apart. <br />'J'hc'iC features havc, uncl continue to, provide lUatel~ial for limnologJ.c;\ I. <br />studi.es. <br /> <br />Studies of tel'restd.al or<janisms ilrc not as advancod as those of the <br />aqua tic communities" IJowevcr, l1ex:ican Cu t hilS been shown to harbol: <br />"isolat.es" of the y",llow-belliod marmot which differs in life history <br />patterns dependont on altitude. Ants of the genun Formica also havCl <br />apparently c1evolopc<l p'lculiar life history patt(1J:ns-'i;di"i"i,i'Ec'd to high <br />altitudes. COlllpl'01wnsive vegetationill analyses havo been undertaken <br />only i.n the vicinily of the ponds Oil tbo lower lcvuls of the cirque. <br />Further studies \v'ill b<;l necessary to characteri:t.c the tundra plant <br />co~nunitius on the upper levels of Mexican Cut. <br />