Annual Water Balance and Agricultural Development in Alaska

Mean annual precipitation in Alaska varies from 10 cm in the north to well over 500 cm in the southeast. Much of the interior has a macro—scale negative mean water balance, whereas coastal areas are very humid. Most land areas with the potential for agricultural development lie along the major inter...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology
Main Authors: Newman, James E., Branton, C. Ivan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1972
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1934243
http://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F1934243
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F1934243
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/1934243
Description
Summary:Mean annual precipitation in Alaska varies from 10 cm in the north to well over 500 cm in the southeast. Much of the interior has a macro—scale negative mean water balance, whereas coastal areas are very humid. Most land areas with the potential for agricultural development lie along the major interior river valleys. Nearly all of these land areas have long—term negative water balances. Should agricultural development take place in these areas, this negative water balance is likely to be magnified. Only those potential agricultural lands in the Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak—Aleutian Island chain, and the southeast coastal regions lack water limitations when subjected to intensive crop production.