Component Projects-Alaska Arctic Tundra Vegetation Map

Alaska Arctic Tundra Vegetation Map

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Tussock-sedge, dwarf-shrub, lichen tundra Community No. 47 (lichen-rich tussock tundra), near Quartz Creek (Kougarok), Seward Peninsula, Alaska. (Photo: D.A. Walker.)

Vegetation Units

G4.2 Lichen-rich tussock tundra (Seward Peninsula)

Fire-controlled graminoid, dwarf-shrub communities, ranging from grass-dominated soon after fire (comm. 46), to communities similar to tussock tundra found to the north and south (comm. 41), to lichen-rich tundra long after fire (comm. 47). Seward Peninsula, 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

Community 46

Resprouting tussocks with colonizing liverworts and mosses on burned tussock tundra (Racine 1987) (Seward Peninsula).


Tussock sedge: Eriophorum vaginatum;
Grass: Calamagrostis canadensis, Arctagrostis latifolia;
Forb: Epilobium latifolium, Tephroseris congesta;
Bryophyte: Marchantia polymorpha, Ceratodon purpureus

Community 47

Map Unit 60 lichen tussock tundra (Swanson and Schuman 1985) (Seward Peninsula).


Sedge: Eriophorum vaginatum;
Erect dwarf shrub: Ledum decumbens, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Rubus chamaemorus;
Lichen: Cladina rangiferina, Cladina mitis, Cladina arbuscula, Flavocetraria cucullata, Cetraria islandica;
Moss: Sphagnum spp.