Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Ch. 1: Regions and Ecoregions


The 20 ecological regions of Alaska.
101. Arctic Coastal Plain
It is 50,000 sq km and it is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and goes as far as Yukon Territory Canada. It is a treeless region that has an arctic climate
102. Arctic Foothills
It is 124,000 sq km. "This ecoregion consists of a wide swath of rolling hills and plateaus that grades from the coastal plain on the north to the Brooks Range on the south." (U.S Dept. of the Interior). It has few lakes and is mostly treeless.
103. Brooks Range
It is 134,000 sq km and consisting of mountains carved from sedimentary rock.
104. Interior Forested Lowlands and Uplands
It is 269,000 sq km and has a continental climate. This region is mostly forest dominated by spruce and hardwood species of trees.
105.Interior Highlands
It is 115,000 sq km and it made up of rounded low mountains.
106. Interior Bottomlands
It is 103,000 sq km and it is made up of flat or mostly flat bottomlands along the rivers of the interior Alaska.
107. Yukon Flats
It is 33,000 sq km and it mostly flat. It is similar to the Interior Bottomlands but the the summers are warmer and winters are colder compared to other areas.
108. Ogilvie Mountains
It is 11,000 sq km and it is made up of flat topped hills.
109. Subarctic Coastal Plains
It is 91,000 sq km and it "mainly includes coastal plains of the Kotzebue sound area and the Yukon and Kuskokwim River Delta area." (US.Dept of the Interior)
110. Seward Peninsula
It is 47,000 sq km and is mostly treeless. It is surrounded by water and the winters are long and cold while the summers are short and warm.
111. Ahklun and Kilbuck Mountains
It is 51,000 sq km and is made up of mountains that are separated by valleys and lowlands.
112.Bristol Bay-Nushagak Lowlands
It is 61,000 sq km and has lakes scattered around and better drained soils.
113. Alaska Peninsula Mountains
It is 48,000 sq km. "This region is composed of rounded, folded and faulted sedimentary ridges intermittently surrounded by volcanoes."(US Dept. of Interior)
114. Aleutian Islands
It is 12,000 sq km and is made up of islands that were made from volcanic formations.
115. Cook Inlet
It is 28,000 sq km and has many trees mostly spruce and hardwood species.
116. Alaska Range
It is 117,000 sq km and  has mountains that are high and steep. This area does not have much vegetation.
117. Copper Plateau
It is 17,000 sq km and has many lakes and wetlands.
118. Wrangell Mountains
It is 29,000 sq km and this area is covered by mountains that were once volcanoes. The winters are cold and brutal while the summers are short.
119. Pacific Coastal Mountains
It is 106,000 sq km and these mountains receive a lot of rainfall. This area does not have much vegetation.
120.  Coastal Western Hemlock-Sitka Spruce Forest
It is 61,000 sq km and has the warmest winter in the state but receives a lot of rain.

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