Component Projects-Alaska Arctic Tundra Vegetation Map

Alaska Arctic Tundra Vegetation Map

Tussock-sedge, dwarf-shrub, moss tundra, Community No. 41, Arctic Foothills, near Oumalik, Alaska.

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Tussock-sedge, dwarf-shrub, moss tundra, Community No. 41, Arctic Foothills, near Oumalik, Alaska. (Photo: D.A. Walker.)

Vegetation Units

G4.1 Tussock tundra (entire map)

Tussock-sedge, dwarf-shrub, moss communities (comm. 41) on mesic, acidic loess. Foothills of the Brooks Range and Seward Peninsula; ice-rich permafrost, Yukon -Kuskokwim Delta; and foothills of the Kuskokwim Mountains, Subzone E.

Plant Communities:

Community 41

Northern Beringian Islands: Sphagno-Eriophoretum vaginati, tussock tundra on acidic fine grained soils (Walker et al. 1994) (Imnavait Creek).

Beringian Alaska: Cottongrass-sedge-dwarf heath shrub complex (Hanson 1953); Tussock dwarf-shrub tundra (Racine and Anderson 1979); 42B- low shrub cottongrass tussock tundra, 60 - lichen tussock tundra (Swanson and Schuman 1985); C2,C8,C19,QC1, QC2,QC45  (Raynolds et al. 2002) (Seward Peninsula).

Map Units M11, M14 (Tande and Jennings 1986); Map Unit 71 - lowland moist low-scrub (Jorgenson 2000); Sites BB10-13, MM5,7 (Talbot 1983) (Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta).


Tussock sedge: Eriophorum vaginatum, Carex bigelowii;
Erect dwarf shrub: Betula nana, Ledum decumbens, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Empetrum hermaphroditum, Cassiope tetragona, Rubus chamaemorus;
Forb: Pyrola grandiflora, Bistorta plumosa, Saxifraga nelsoniana;
Moss: Sphagnum spp., Hylocomium splendens, Aulacomnium turgidum, Dicranum spp., Polytrichum strictum;
Lichen: Cladina spp., Cladonia amaurocraea, Cetraria spp., Dactylina arctica