Dynamics of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Vegetation of Amchitka Island, Alaska
Amchitka has a maritime tundra regime which is reflected in a uniform meadow-like vegetation of few vascular plant taxa. The vegetation, above the sandy beaches, exists as a continuum of types which fall into definable topoenvironmental units along a moisture gradient from fen to bog, with a wind bl...
Published in: | BioScience |
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Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Oxford University Press
1971
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/21/12/619 https://doi.org/10.2307/1295734 |
Summary: | Amchitka has a maritime tundra regime which is reflected in a uniform meadow-like vegetation of few vascular plant taxa. The vegetation, above the sandy beaches, exists as a continuum of types which fall into definable topoenvironmental units along a moisture gradient from fen to bog, with a wind blowout-solifluction zone at higher, exposed sites. Plant productivity, litter breakdown and decomposition, and secondary plant successional processes are all retarded by the low-energy input climate. |
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