General information

Provisional. A provisional ecological site description has undergone quality control and quality assurance review. It contains a working state and transition model and enough information to identify the ecological site.

MLRA notes

Major Land Resource Area (MLRA): 237X–Ahklun Mountains

The Ahklun Mountains Major Land Resource Area (MLRA 237) is in western Alaska. This MLRA covers approximately 14,555 square miles, and it includes the mountains, hills, and valleys of the Kilbuck Mountains in the north and the Ahklun Mountains in the south. Except for the Kilbuck Mountains and the highest ridges of the Ahklun Mountains, the MLRA was extensively glaciated during the Pleistocene (Kautz et al., 2004). Today, a few small glaciers persist in mountainous cirques (Gallant et al., 1995). The present-day landscape and landforms reflect this glacial history; glacial moraines and glacial drift cover much of the area (USDA-NRCS, 2006). The landscape of the MLRA is primarily defined by low, steep, rugged mountains cut by narrow-to-broad valleys. Flood plains and terraces of varying sizes are common at the lower elevations in the valley bottoms. Glacially carved valleys host many lakes. Togiak Lake is one of the largest lakes in the region. It is 13 miles long and about 9,500 acres in size. Major rivers include the Goodnews, Togiak, Kanektok, Osviak, Eek, and Arolik Rivers. Where the Goodnews and Togiak Rivers reach the coast, the nearly level to rolling deltas support numerous small lakes.

This MLRA has two distinct climatic zones: subarctic continental and maritime continental. The high-elevation areas are in the subarctic continental zone. The mean annual precipitation is more than 75 inches, and the mean annual air temperature is below -3° C in extreme locations. The warmer, drier areas at the lower elevations are in the maritime continental zone. The mean annual precipitation is 20 to 50 inches, and the mean annual air temperature is -0.2 to 1.2° C (PRISM). This climatic zone is influenced by both maritime and continental factors. The temperatures in summer are moderated by the open waters of the Bering Sea, and the temperatures in winter are more continental due to the presence of ice in the sea (Western Regional Climate Center, 2017). The seasonal ice reaches its southernmost extent off the coast of Alaska in Bristol Bay (Alaska Climate Research Center, 2017). The western coast of Alaska is also influenced by high winds from strong storms and airmasses in the Interior Region of Alaska (Hartmann, 2002).

The Ahklun Mountains MLRA is principally undeveloped wilderness. Federally managed lands include the Togiak and Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuges. The MLRA is sparsely populated, but it has several communities, including Togiak, Manokotak, Twin Hills, and Goodnews Bay. Togiak is the largest village. It has a population of approximately 855, most of whom are Yup’ik Alaska Natives (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016). Major land uses include subsistence activities (fishing, hunting, and gathering) and wildlife recreation (USDA-NRCS, 2006; Kautz et al., 2004).

Ecological site concept

This proposed ecological site concept is correlated to the STATSGO soil components E37-Boreal subalpine woodland-gravelly colluvial slopes and E37-Boreal subalpine woodland-loamy colluvial slopes. Site F237XY259AK is the basis for the ecological site group ESG18X2237X00X. This ecological site description (ESD) will be revised when field data are collected that can be used to confirm or update the following information.

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Hypothesized Reference Plant Community

This ecological site supports white spruce woodland (may be krummholz) that has open areas of low and dwarf scrubs, including crowberry, marsh Labrador tea, and bog blueberry. Alpine species likely include eightpetal mountain-avens and alpine azalea. Sporadic forbs and graminoids that have low cover and high diversity likely are present.

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Classification Crosswalk (community descriptions of similar landscapes and landforms in other vegetation classification systems)

*Similar ecological sites in AK637 (Togiak National WIldlife Refuge): None. No white spruce woodland is mapped in the AK637 project. This site likely correlates to an ecological site from neighboring MLRAs 238 or 230.

*LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings: Western NA Boreal Treeline White Spruce Woodland–Sub-boreal (7616001) (USDA et al., 2007)

*Alaska Vegetation Classification System: I.A.3.c (Viereck et al., 1992)

*Circumboreal Vegetation Mapping (CBVM) Project: South Alaska Subalpine Spruce Woodlands & Scrub (Jorgensen and Meidinger, 2015)

*Alaska Arctic Tundra Vegetation: No Arctic AK Geobotany community fit (Raynolds et al., 2006)

*U.S. National Vegetation Classification Database 2.03: G579–Central Alaskan-Yukon Boreal Mesic Forest Group (USNVC, 2019)

Table 1. Dominant plant species