Mud Lake Research Natural Area Establishment Record

The main feature distinguishing both the Mud Lake and the Wheeler Peak units of the Mud Lake Research Natural Area is the isolated populations of Baker cypress. They occupy the north- to northeast-facing slopes of ridges vegetated with mixed conifer, white fir, and red fir forest, with a variable mixture of mostly successional montane chaparral. The Wheeler Peak unit is generally more successionally advanced than the Mud Lake unit, which was largely engulfed by a crown fire just before the turn of the 20th century. The Baker cypress stands are both monospecific and mixed within the mixed conifer forest at Wheeler Peak, while they are almost entirely intermixed with other conifers at Mud Lake.