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<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< U"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 limestone ilnd quart"ite which have been' <br />Lipped up and worn differentially by (Jlacial action. lis a result, <br />tI,,) topo'-J\"up!1y of f1cxicun 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 1incmr 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 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\:cn contain distinctly different fauna and flora. The boU_olilt <br />of some arl~,Garp('tell with I::.:ootes bolnnderi, a prinLi.t,ivo spore-bCdJ:.lllq <br />trachc,?phyt<;" PQliulut~()ns'-(j'CTi1"c s:-ilalllaillf,:ir, ~~~l'>J:.t!..~~I~li,l. ~~JO,J:.!:"u!!!, ,,- <br />have l~fe JHstOI:~es wInch v,'ry from pond t.O pond" N')lU-C<ln Cut hm:boJ,"f; <br />aL l'".:wt two typIC'; of life history not cOlOmonly found in thilJ sp('ci.()f.; - <br />it l'l:l)lpJl,JCltjon or (he Lll"Vdl periotl and J:'epl"oducLi.vu maturity in tho <br />larvill morpho '!'hcnl iln~ alGo two major plankt.on community typos Ilv;d,li" <br />tained by a combination of biolQ'JiCill and physical Cilctors. 'l'he detiliJ.- <br />ed comparisons of these arc facilitated by the c:l(lse proximity of <br />lJonc1s with differin<) cowmunity type!3 - DC) more 1:11':'11 50 yards apart. <br />'J'hc'iC features havc, uncl continue to, provide lUatel~ial for limnologici' '- <br />studi.es. <br /> <br />Studies of tet-restd.al ol"<janisms ilrc not as advancod as those of the <br />aqua tic communities" IJowevcr, l1ex:ican Cu t hilS been shown to harbol: <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 l'(lculiar li[o history patt(1J:ns--'it"<"iii"i-i"Ec'd to high <br />altitudes. Compl'01wnsive vegetationill analyses havo been undertaken <br />only in the vicinily of the ponds Oil tlto lower levels of the cirque. <br />Further studies \';il1 b<;l necessary to characteri:t.c the tundra plant <br />co~nunitius on the upper levels of Mexican Cut. <br />