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Show Vegetation of Goshen and Provo Bays currently provide habitat for waterfowl, pheasants and many other birds and animals. ( 8) Mona Reservoir Enlargement Today, most of this area is cultivated and the remaining wildlands have been disturbed and are in relatively poor conditiono A large number of ruderal plant species are evident. The reservoir is immediately surrounded by a narrow belt of wetland vegetation that is being heavily grazed by livestock. ( 9) Lampton Reservoir Site Originally the foothills of this area were covered by grass- sagebrush communities while the lowlands along the Jordan River supported extensive dense stands of grasses. Now the situation has changed. The marsh lands are in cultivation or used for pasture. Overgrazing of the foothills appears to have been responsible for a change and deterioriation of the quality of the hillside vegetation. Virtually no respresentative pristine vegetation exists in this area. Thus, the existing vegetative condition of the land encompassed by the Bonneville Unit runs the complete i gamut between near wilderness setting in the Upper Stillwater area to virtual elimination of native species in the Lampton Reservoir area. Algae Algae are of basic and critical importance to the earth1s ecosystem. They are primary producers and thus are able to photosynthesize plant tissue and oxygen while utilizing nutrients and carbon- dioxide. These organisms constitute the first link in the natural food chain of nearly all of the more advanced species of animal. The many and varied species have become adapted to a specific set of environmental conditions and cannot survive elsewhere. If their existing habitat is altered, these species will either adapt ( if the change is small) or die out and be replaced by other species that can tolerate the new conditions. For this reason algae species can be utilized as indicators of environmental quality. In general, undisturbed aquatic ecosystems contain a large number of different specis, none of which excessively dominate the community. As the pristine characteristics of the 128 |