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Alaska Peninsula Montane Taiga
The Alaska Peninsula montane taiga is a taiga and boreal forests ecoregion, located in Alaska, and defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system. Setting This ecoregion is a mountainous area of ridges up to 1200m between peaks up to 2500m, located on the southern, Pacific Ocean side of the Alaska Peninsula from Cook Inlet west through the Kodiak Archipelago to Unimak Island at the beginning of the Aleutian Islands chain, while the area around Cook Inlet at the head of the peninsula is the neighboring Cook Inlet taiga ecoregion. The area has a freezing climate of snow (up to 4000mm) and cold temperatures. Flora The mountainsides are covered with scrubby vegetation, the higher slopes by low scrub such as black crowberry (''Empetrum nigrum'') and other ericas (''Vaccinium'')s, the tiny Arctic willow (''Salix arctica'') and white mountain avens (''Dryas octopetala'') while the lower slopes have various evergreen trees among the shrubs and the low coastal plains hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge in the Kodiak Archipelago in southwestern Alaska, United States. Description The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge includes the southwestern two-thirds of Kodiak Island, Uganik Island, the Red Peaks area of Afognak Island and all of Ban Island in the archipelago. It encompasses . The refuge is administered from offices in Kodiak. The refuge contains seven major rivers and about 100 streams. It is a spawning ground for all five species of Pacific Ocean salmon, steelhead, Dolly Varden, and several other fish species; as well as a nesting ground for 250 species of bird, many of which feed on salmon. The refuge has only six native species of mammals: Kodiak bear, red fox, river otter, ermine, little brown bat and tundra vole. The non-native mammals Sitka black-tailed deer, mountain goat, Roosevelt elk, caribou, marten, red squirrel, snowshoe hare, and beaver were introduced to the archipelago between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cook Inlet Taiga
The Cook Inlet taiga is a taiga and boreal forests ecoregion in Alaska. Setting This ecoregion is located around the upper Cook Inlet on the south-central coast of Alaska, sheltered by mountains on all sides. This coast has a gentle landscape and a relatively mild climate for Alaska with 380–680 mm of rainfall per year. Flora The plant life here is varied for Alaska, composted of a mixture of conifers and other trees, shrubs, and herbs. The dominant trees in this region are black spruce ''(Picea mariana)'', white spruce ''(Picea glauca)'', the large Sitka spruce ''(Picea sitchensis)'', quaking aspen ''(Populus tremuloides)'', balsam poplar ''(Populus balsamifera)'', black cottonwood ''(Populus trichocarpa)'' and paper birch ''(Betula papyrifera)''. The spruce forest is regularly renewed following severe damage by spruce bark beetle infestations. Fauna This area is rich in wildlife including grey wolves, bears and Canada lynx. The Kenai River is home to five species of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arctic Ground Squirrel
The Arctic ground squirrel (''Urocitellus parryii'') (Inuktitut: ''ᓯᒃᓯᒃ, siksik'') is a species of ground squirrel native to the Arctic and Subarctic of North America and Asia. People in Alaska, particularly around the Aleutians, refer to them as "parka" squirrels, most likely because their pelt is good for the ruff on parkas and for clothing. Taxonomy Subspecies listed alphabetically. *''U. p. ablusus'' Osgood, 1903 *''U. p. kennicottii'' Ross, 1861 – Barrow ground squirrel (northern Alaska, northern Yukon, and northern Northwest Territories) *''U. p. kodiacensis'' Ross, 1861 *''U. p. leucostictus'' Brandt, 1844 *''U. p. lyratus'' Hall and Gilmore, 1932 *''U. p. nebulicola'' Osgood, 1903 *''U. p. osgoodi'' Merriam, 1900 *''U. p. parryii'' Richardson, 1825 *''U. p. plesius'' Osgood, 1900 *''U. p. stejnegeri'' J. A. Allen, 1903 Description The Arctic ground squirrel has a beige and tan coat with a white-spotted back. This squirrel has a short face, small ears, a dark tai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult male moose have distinctive broad, palmate ("open-hand shaped") antlers; most other members of the deer family have antlers with a dendritic ("twig-like") configuration. Moose typically inhabit boreal forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of the Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ... in temperate to subarctic climates. Hunting and other human activities have caused a reduction in the size of the moose's range over time. It has been reintroduced to some of its former habitats. Currently, most moose occ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caribou
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspecies. A 2022 revision of the genus elevated five of the subspecies to species (see Taxonomy below). They have a circumpolar distribution and are native to the Arctic, sub-Arctic, tundra, boreal forest, and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. Reindeer occur in both migratory and sedentary populations, and their herd sizes vary greatly in different regions. The tundra subspecies are adapted for extreme cold, and some are adapted for long-distance migration. Reindeer vary greatly in size and color from the smallest species, the Svalbard reindeer (''R. t. platyrhynchus''), to the largest subspecies, Osborn's caribou (''R. t. osborni''). Although reindeer are quite numerous, some species and subspecies are in d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
