and Saether (1970), Jensen (1966), Johannsen (1934 and 1935) and Wiggins 

 (1977). Chironomid larvae and microdrile oligochaetes were mounted on glass 

 microscope slides in Hydramount. Microdrile oligochaetes were cleared in 

 Amman's lactophenol prior to mounting. 



Results 



Species Richness and Community Composition 



A total of 70 taxa were identified from the German Gulch samples. 

 Samples collected at the Upper, Middle and Lower Sites yielded 41, 51 and 52 

 taxa, respectively. Twenty-eight taxa were common to all three sites while 

 each of the three stations yielded taxa unique to the site (7 at the Upper, 6 

 at the Middle and 10 at the Lower) . Summer samples exhibited an increase in 

 species richness over spring samples at all three sample sites (Table 16). 



Mean numbers of taxa collected per sample are presented by sample site 

 and by sample site and season in Table 17. Mean numbers of taxa per square 

 foot sample are related to species distribution and species diversity in the 

 sample habitat. The highest mean numbers of taxa per sample occurred at the 

 Middle Site while the lowest means occurred at the Upper Site. Mean numbers 

 of taxa per sample showed an increase in the summer samples over the spring 

 samples at all three stations. Spring numbers of taxa per sample at the Lower 

 Site were nearly identical to those observed at the Upper Site, while numbers 

 observed at the Lower Site approximated the mean for the Middle Site. 



A checklist of the taxa collected from German Gulch Creek and their 

 distributions among the three sample sites is presented in Table 18. The 

 fauna of German Gulch Creek was dominated by rheophilous forms typical of 

 small montane tributaries. The rheophile community is extremely constant and 



-25- 



