USFWS Uganik Island, Alaska Peninsula and Southwest Islands PALUSTRINE OPEN WATER THE AUTHORS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Jonathan V. Hall coordinates the National This report is the result of extensive effort. Special Wetlands Inventory in the Alaska Region of the appreciation is extended to U. S. Fish and Wildlife U . S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Service personnel including Don Woodard, Becky Stanley, Tom Dahl, Norm Mangrum, and Rene W. E . Frayer is Dean of the School of Forestry Whitehead of the National Wetlands Inventory and Wood Products at Michigan Technological Group, St. Petersburg, Florida; Charles Storrs of University. He specializes in natural resources the Division of Habitat Conservation, Atlanta, survey design and analysis. Georgia; and David Dall of the National Wetlands Inventory, Washington, D . C. Bill O. Wilen is Project Leader ofthe National Wetlands Inventory for the U. S . Fish and Many individuals from Geonex Inc. were respon Wildlife Service. sible for photo interpretation and map produc- tion . Principal among these are Keith Patterson, DESIGN Sheila Ricardi, Marsha Martin, Todd Neurminger, Barbara Schuster, Jim Dick, and Gale Communications; St. Paul, MN Dave Fink. Their work is greatly appreciated. Funding support from the U . S . Army Corps of Cover photo: Caribou, Arctic Coastal Plain Engineers and the National Oceanic and PALUSTRINE EMERGENT - FLOODED Atmospheric Administration's National Marine BP EXPLORATION (ALASKA) INC Pollution Program Office is gratefully acknowl- Back cover photo: Yellow pond lily, edged . Glen Yankus ofthe U. S . Department of Cook Inlet - Susitna Lowland Interior's Minerals Management Service also S GALE assisted in the study. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Region Anchorage, Alaska Status of Alaska Wetlands by Jonathan V. Hall, W. E. Frayer and Bill O. Wilen 1994 BP EXPLORATION (ALASKA) INC Arctic Coastal Plain PALUSTRINE OPEN WATER AND EMERGENT - FLOODED Pintails, Yukon Flats USFWS PALUSTRINE EMERGENT - FLOODED Highlights Alaska encompasses an area of 403,247,700 Palustrine scrub/shrub wetlands are extensive. acres, including offshore areas involved in this They cover 114,510,100 acres, which is almost study. Total acreage of wetlands is 174,683,900 t"vo-thirds ofAlaska's wetlands. acres. This is 43.3 percent ofAlaska's surface area. In the lower 48 states, wetlands only occupy Areas other than wetlands and deepwater habitats 5 .2 percent of the surface area. account for 198,693,400 acres, less than half of Alaska's area. Deepwater habitats cover an additional 29,870,400 acres, or 7 .4 percent of Alaska's surface area. Over 88 percent (154,917,300 acres) ofAlaska wetlands are under public management. Brooks Range PALUSTRINE SCRUB/SHRUB - SATURATED J. HAL . Contents Highlights . .. .3 Introduction . .7 Overview . .9 Classification System . .11 Survey Procedure . .15 Results . 17 In Conclusion . .29 Literature Cited . .31 Appendix . .32 left. Safety Harbor; Western Coastal Zone Mountain cranberry, Kuskoklvim Higblancls ESTUARINE INTERTIDAL VEGETATED PALUSTRINE SCRUB/SHRUB - SATURATED J HALL D .DALL 7Y 0 wetlanddevelopaboutthisNationalFrayerpercentwetlandsmid-1950'slossOilcomprisingmillionUnitedperiod,(Dahland1974toresponsibilityreportandofpipeline,ofoftheanat11wereet1983a458,000andgainsremainedmigratorytheettheirWetlandstheNationalaveragealmillionacresONEand1950'sStatesapproximatelyforalcreateddisseminate(1983)Fishcharacteristicstimenation'sandshowedtheandArcticassociatedthehabitats1991equatesFishacresannualforandmid-1970's,48ofnine-yearWetlandslossesinandInventoryandThissettlementthecontiguousFrayerCoastalwetlandstheandWildlife1970'softoendangeredOfinTinernetprotectioncomprehensivedeepwatermid-1970'swetlandstwo20-\,earNvedandEMERGENTWildlifeanparticularandtheperiodloss1991)InventoryPlainwereProject,millionShaiaService,there(1984)lowerTheextentinofstates,SCRUB/SHRUBnetlosstheServicepublishedAnbetweenDuring290,200Creekandhabitatsfishwaspurpose-concern48acresannuallossFLOODEDBetweenhasarearateofLowlandthroughstudyupdateOfonlyman-anddatastatesawet-ofFlats,haslossthewasoftheis GOLETstatesoflowerStateexample,statisticalreportisestimatesandareaswetlandstheand1992)trendsoftoorprovide48deepwaterfirstmanagedpresentsPetersAlaska,obtainotheronstatesthisdesigninreportofandtheirapproachthecurrentinformationselected1990)canreliableNativesdeepwaterresultshabitats,bytrendsusedCentralforbeseveralandAlaskastatusinusedgeographicalestimateswasofandtheValleyFloridaitaonhabitatsfederalwithusedstudydoesothersofqualitytrendWhiletheAlaskaofintensifiedfortonotamounts(Frayeronagencies,studyinCaliforniaevaluateitItindivid-areastheprovideAlaskawet-pro-does,forsta-andof CHAPTER Introduction The The major the agement sampling wildlife . ual . are . For Since wetland its (Frayer inventoried . Hefner . to concerning This lands . tus . This . Results vides of lands between information . by . however, wetlands these now the . 46 . the of . same wetlands . a nine average net . of 1974 down acres . ; . left: PALUSTRINE EMERGENT - FLOODED J. HALL right: , Tanana-Kuskoklvim PALUSTRINE AND F. CHAPTER TWO Ovcrvicw Wetlands in Alaska include types commonly Wetlands are abundant in the valleys and basins referred to as bogs, muskegs, wet and moist tun- associated with large river systems including the dra, fens, marshes, swamps, mud flats, and salt Yukon, Kuskokwim, Porcupine, Tanana, and marshes . The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service esti- Koyukuk Rivers. Significant wetland areas also mates that during the 200-year period between occur on the major river deltas in Alaska. The 1780 and 1980, approximately 'ho of a percent of Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, one of the world's the original wetland acreage in Alaska was lost largest coastal deltaic formations, supports a vari- (Dahl 1990). ety of wetland types including wet tundra, grassy sloughs, shrub swamps, ponds and brackish Common terms used for Alaska's deepwater marsh . Other major deltas in Alaska that are pre- habitats include lakes, bays, sounds, fjords, dominantly wetland are the Colville River Delta lagoons, and inlets . The two largest lakes in on the Beaufort Sea coast, the Copper River Alaska are Lake Iliamna (1,000 square miles) and Delta in south central Alaska, and the Stikine Becharof Lake (458 square miles) . Large coastal River Delta in the southeast region. deepwater habitats include Kotzebue Sound, Norton Sound, Bristol Bay, Cook Inlet, and the Many wetlands in northern portions of Alaska are labyrinth of fjords, inlets, and straits in the underlain and maintained by permafrost, or Alexander Archipelago (southeast Alaska) . perennially frozen ground. Wetland conditions Lagoons formed behind barrier islands are com- often occur because the frozen layer traps water mon in northwest Alaska along the Chukchi Sea at or near the soil surface . Other wetlands are and Bering Strait coasts. maintained by heavy rainfall, glacial melt water, river flooding, beaver activity, snow melt, springs, Most regions of Alaska have a land surface that and the ebb and flow of tides . includes extensive areas of wetlands . Treeless expanses of moist and wet tundra underlain by Wetlands in Alaska range in elevation from tidal permafrost occur in the northern and western systems at sea level to moist tundra areas in high portions. Interior Alaska contains millions of alpine zones. Wetlands are as common on slopes acres of black spruce muskeg and floodplain as they are in lowland sites and depressions . wetlands dominated by deciduous shrubs and While north-facing slopes are frequently wetland emergents. Shrub and licrbaceous bogs are a con- due to the presence ofpermafrost, south-facing spicuous feature of the landscape in south central slopes in the same area often support non-wet- and southeast Alaska. Even in mountainous areas land plant communities on `yell-drained soils. such as the Brooks Range, wetlands have devel- Hillside wetlands are common in southern por- oped in drainages and on vegetated slopes. Some tions of Alaska due to abundant precipitation and of the nation's most extensive complexes of salt shallow depths to bedrock. marshes and mud flats occur along the coasts of the Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea and Alaska's wetlands provide many benefits includ- the Gulf of Alaska . ing: food and habitat for wildlife, fish and shell- fish species, natural products for human use and subsistence, shoreline erosion and sediment con- trol, flood protection, and opportunities for recreation and aesthetic appreciation. Not all left: Blying Sound, South Central Coastal Zone wetlands perform all these functions, but most MARINE INTERTIDAL wetlands contribute to one or more in varying J HALL degrees . Snowgeese over Arctic Coastal Plain PALUSTRINE EMERGENT - SATURATED A BRACKNEY moist tundra wetlands in the North Slope coastal plain are used by these animals for calving and feeding. Nonvegetated wetland types such as gravel bars and coastal beaches are used to escape insect harassment. The value ofwetlands for fish is well established for Alaska's coastal wetlands along rivers and streams. Many fish species feed in wetlands or on food produced by wetlands. Coastal wetlands and stream side marshes are used as nursery grounds . Other wetland types adjacent to rivers maintain and regulate stream flow in channels used by fish. Species (e. g ., salmon) that move between fresh water and saltwater are dependent on both coastal and riparian wetlands. Annually, the Tundra wetlands in northern and western Alaska salmon industry in Alaska employs approximately are prime breeding