The Alaska Vegetation Classification - Alaska Geobotany Center ...

Arctic AlaskaInterior AlaskaAn extensive vegetation mapping and classification project in the Kobuk Riverdrainage recently has been described by Craighead and others (1988). Vegetationwas mapped by using the LANDSAT multispectral scanning system over an area of33,768 square kilometers (13,034 mi'). Vegetation classification was based on datacollected from 880 ground plots; 15 vegetation complexes were mapped. Thesecomplexes contain 68 separate plant communities and range from a tidal marshcomplex to an alpine tundra complex. A variety of willow, shrub tundra, and bothriparian and upland white spruce communities are described.Much vegetation description and classification work has been undertaken in arcticAlaska, especially around Barrow and, more recently, near Prudhoe Bay. Therefore,it is impossible to review all the studies and here we will attempt to discuss onlysome exemplary reports. Notable studies in the past include those of Churchill (1955),Spetzman (1959), Britton (1967), and Johnson and Tieszen (1973). Churchill (1955)describes tundra communities in the Umiat region. Both Spetzman (1959) and Britton(1967) give general vegetation descriptions of arctic tundra north of the crest of theBrooks Range. Johnson and Tieszen (1973) review the vegetation work in arcticAlaska and list 42 community types in 10 physiographic habitats. They do notdescribe the community types but correlate eight major types with soil texture,drainage, soil type, and level of permafrost. The 42 community types representa mix of habitats and general vegetation physiognomy and plant groups.Walker and others (1982) mapped landforms, soils, and vegetation in a 5,700-square-kilometer (2,200-mi') portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by usingLANOSAT data. Vegetation units mapped include wet sedge tundra, dry prostrateshrub, forb tundra, moist sedge-prostrate shrub tundra, moist sedge tussock-prostrateshrub tundra, moist sedge tussock-dwarf shrub tundra, and shrub tundra. Walker(1985b) also carried out a detailed study of vegetation and environmental gradientsat Prudhoe Bay. A total of 92 permanent study plots were established on which42 vegetation types were identified. Factors studied for their possible control overvegetation distribution included temperature, soil moisture, soil pH, organic mattercontent, soil nutrients, snow depth, hummock size, cryoturbation, and animal activity.Walker (1983) presents an arctic Alaska tundra classification, especially designed formapping applications.The tundra vegetation near Barrow is described by Brown and others (1980a, 1980b).This report describes results of tundra biome research conducted under the InternationalBiological Program. Murray (1978) presents a very helpful summary of thestate of knowledge of vegetation, floristics, and phytogeography of northern Alaska.Hettinger and Janz (1974) describe the vegetation and soils of the eastern portion ofarctic Alaska. They identify and describe 67 vegetation types, ranging from tundra toforest, and correlate them with terrain and soil features.Until about 1975, little work in vegetation classification had been done in interiorAlaska. Viereck (1975), after reviewing available information on taiga communities,developed a classification that follows the system of Fosberg (1967) for the InternationalBiological Program. Whenever possible, Viereck made his classificationcompatible with Reid's (1974) lor an adjacent area in Canada. Viereck also showsrelative positions of all vegetation types along hypothetical moisture and temperaturegradients.7