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Background Information on the Ecology, Geology, and Archeology of Kachemak Bay

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Background Information on the Ecology, Geology, and Archeology of Kachemak Bay Background Guide to the ACE Program Alaska Coastal Ecology Program Background Information on the Ecology, Geology, and Archeology of Kachemak Bay Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies P.O.Box 2225, Homer, AK 99603 . (907) 235-6667 www.akcoastalstudies.org Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies 1 2014 Background Guide to the ACE Program Background Guide to the ACE Program Table of Contents Alaska Coastal Ecology (ACE) Program Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies....................................................................................................... 4 The Alaska Coastal Ecology (ACE) Program...................................................................................... 5 Alaska Coastal Ecology Major Learning Concepts.......................................................................... 6 I. Kachemak Bay Kachemak Bay is . ............................................................................................................................7 Kachemak Bay - An Estuary ................................................................................................................8 Geology of Kachemak Bay................................................................................................................... 11 Kachemak Bay - An Area of "Edges".................................................................................................17 Kachemak Bay Biodiversity Factoids .............................................................................................17 Prehistoric Use of Kachemak Bay.................................................................................................................20 Changing Ecosystems in Kachemak Bay...........................................................................................23 Kachemak Bay - A Place for Stewardship..........................................................................................28 II. Intertidal Ecology Intertidal Diversity in Kachemak Bay ..............................................................................................31 Organisms in the Intertidal Zone.........................................................................................................35 Who Lives Where and Why?.................................................................................................................37 Intertidal Food Webs..............................................................................................................................44 Ecological Relationships.........................................................................................................................48 III. Forest Ecology Conifers of Kachemak Bay ..................................................................................................................50 Plants on the Forest Floor ..................................................................................................................50 Temperate Rainforest?........................................................................................................................51 Plant Adaptations .................................................................................................................................52 Forest Succession..............................................................................................................................53 This Alaska Coastal Ecology Program content guide was originally Traditional Uses of Plants.................................................................................................................... 58 Revisions and additions to the guide have occurred in 2004 by Bree Murphy, in 2009 by Katie Villano, and in 2014 by Katie Gavenus in an Other Curriculum Resources.................................................................................................60 References....................................................................................................................................63 2 Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies 3 2014 2014 Background Guide to the ACE Program Background Guide to the ACE Program Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies The Alaska Coastal Ecology (ACE) Program The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies The Alaska Coastal Ecology program is Lab. Intertidal ecology, forest ecology, geology, (CACS) is based in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. More the capstone program for the Center for Alaska and archeology are taught during the ACE than just our location, Kachemak Bay is our Coastal Studies. The program was started in program through a variety of hikes and hands- special place; the unique ecology of this place 1983 at the Peterson Bay Field Station and has on activities. Groups choose to participate in a and the richness of human connections to it steadily grown ever since. The ACE program day trip, or spend the night for two- or three-day were the impetus for the founding of CACS and a consistent source of inspiration and curiosity grades 3-12. Kasitsna Bay Laboratory in partnership with the In addition to the great outdoor CACS, we strive to foster connections between University of Alaska Fairbanks and NOAA. The experience and exposure to hands-on science, people, Kachemak Bay, and the broader natural purpose of this guide is to help prepare teachers many teachers have told us that the most and CACS educators for the content covered in of all ages to connect with the outdoors through the Alaska Coastal Ecology program. are the important emotional and social bonds guided walks, tours, educational programs, Teachers and students from schools that their students form on the trip both with overnights, school programs and more. Our throughout Alaska travel to Homer each spring each other and with the environment. mission is to foster responsible interaction to participate in this unique program and utilize with our natural surroundings and to generate the living laboratory at the doorstep of the knowledge of the unique marine and coastal Peterson Bay Field Station and the Kasitsna Bay ecosystems of Kachemak Bay through science- based environmental education and stewardship. CACS Location CACS is based in Homer, on the north shore of Kachemak Bay. Homer is located at the southwest end of the Kenai Peninsula and the drive from Anchorage, on dry roads and The Seldovia Native Association owns Headquarters for our Alaska Coastal Ecology the coastal forest, but CACS has an agreement Program and Natural History Day Tours is with the Native Association to use their land for forest trails and access to China Poot Bay. from Homer on the shores of Peterson Bay. The CACS also owns 140 acres at the Carl E. Peterson Bay Field Station is considered semi- Wynn Nature Center. This land is managed for wildlife habitat and education of the public. only accessible by boat. CACS owns about four acres of land at the programs throughout the summer, with school entrance to Peterson Bay Lagoon on the south day programs occurring in the spring and fall. shore of Kachemak Bay. Our land is located next to a coastal forest on the Island Peninsula between Peterson and China Poot Bays. 4 Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies 5 2014 2014 Background Guide to the ACE Program Background Guide to the ACE Program I. Kachemak Bay Alaska Coastal Ecology Major Learning Concepts Kachemak Bay is . 1. Kachemak Bay, its beaches and coastal watersheds have favorable conditions for supporting a diversity of plants and animals. * An estuary. * One of the richest, most diverse marine and intertidal areas in Alaska. 2. Plants and animals have adaptations for survival that allow them to survive best under certain conditions. a) Adaptations to the conditions in the intertidal zone. environments. b) Adaptations to conditions in the coastal forest 4. Plants and animals have a variety of relationships with other * A special place where stewardship is needed. predator/prey, competition, parasitism, and commensalism. 5. Kachemak Bay is shaped by a number of geological processes and 6. People and cultures have been shaped by the unique resources of Kachemak Bay for thousands of years 7. Appreciation and understanding about the ecology of the coastal forest and intertidal zone is linked to stewardship - what people can do to avoid or minimize harm to these environments Figure 1. Kachemak Bay and surrounding area. 6 Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies 7 2014 2014 Background Guide to the ACE Program Background Guide to the ACE Program Diverse and Abundant Life in Kachemak Bay Some of the entering salt water was diverted meaningful ways since the 1970s. back to the outer bay when it encountered Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, Kasitsna The richness of marine life in Kachemak of Prince William Sound, the Alaska Coastal the Spit. Since fresh and salt water do not mix Bay Laboratory, and University of Alaska Bay is evident in a cruise on the bay or a walk Fairbanks are all currently studying the Bay’s along the shores of China Poot Bay at a low tide. Twice-daily tides move Alaska Coastal Current inner bay into the outer bay formed a current water in and out of Cook Inlet, but the direction outward along the north shore, while the sea and discovering that the system seems to be A number of factors account for this diversity more dynamic and complex than revealed by to the south. At the mouth of the bay, currents earlier studies. The results of their work are from the rotation of the earth and
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