Component Projects-Alaska Arctic Tundra Vegetation Map

Alaska Arctic Tundra Vegetation Map

Vegetation Units

Community No. 73, near Council, Alaska

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Nonacidic mountain complex, Community No. 73, near Council, Alaska. (Photo: D.A. Walker.)

Community No. 73, near Council, Alaska

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Nonacidic mountain complex, Community No. 73, near Council, Alaska. (Photo: D.A. Walker.)

B4e.2 Nonacidic mountain complexes (NW Alaska)

Prostrate dwarf-shrub, forb, lichen communities (comm. 73) in complex with snowbeds (comm. 81), talus slopes and meadow communities, on dry limestone slopes. Seward Peninsula and NW Alaska, Subzone E.

Plant Communities:

Community 73:

Alpine Dryas stand ; Map units 61 lichen meadow, mountain (Hanson 1953), 71 Dryas limestone slope, and 72 bald limestone slope (Swanson and Schuman 1985); Vegetation type Dryas dwarf-shrub tundra (Racine and Anderson 1979); Releves C5, C17, C-H (Raynolds et al. 2002) (Seward Peninsula).


Prostrate dwarf shrub: Dryas octopetala, Rhododendron camtschaticum;
Sedge: Carex nardina;
Forb: Artemisia senjavinensis, Artemisia globularia, Saxifraga oppositifolia, Oxytropis nigrescens, Packera cymbalaria, Smelowskia calycina, Minuartia arctica, Phlox sibirica, Potentilla biflora, Potentilla uniflora, Stellaria dicranoides;
Lichen: Thamnolia subuliformis, Cetraria islandica

Community 81:

Early-melting snowbeds, Releve 2000-C-D (Raynolds et al. 2002) (Seward Peninsula).


Dwarf shrub: Salix reticulata, S. richardsonii;
Horsetail: Equisetum arvense;
Moss: Tomentypnum nitens