NPS Photo/ Paige Calamari
Overview
Kenai Fjords National Park is a truly dynamic place. Some of the changes are natural. Others are not. As glaciers retreat since the last ice age, plants colonize new areas and ecosystems grow and change through ecological succession. Anthropogenic climate change is speeding this process, and humans are further modifying the natural order by introducing invasive plants. The plants of Kenai Fjords are a perfect lens through which to see the forces of nature at work, remaking the landscape and its inhabitants, and to understand the growing role of human decisions in shaping the natural world.This project presents a three-tiered hierachical classification for Kenai Fjords National Park: ecological systems, landcover classes and plant associations. We mapped two of the levels for the park: ecological systems, and landcover classes. These classifications provide resource managers with essential information to understand the vegetation and ecology of the Park. This project also provides a review of Kenai Fjords’ ecological literature, climate, vegetation, landscapes, and the project’s methods.
Products
The products of vegetation mapping projects are stored and managed in the National Park Service's Data Store, a repository for documents and publications relating to park resources. From the highlighted items below, click on the type of information you are looking for.
Last updated: July 9, 2018