A Forest Ecosystem on a Glacier in Alaska

The ecosystem on the snout of Kushtaka Glacier, a branch of the Martin River Glacier about 60 mi ESE of Cordova has reached the developmental stage when spruce forest has almost eliminated the alder from the site. Mosses carpet the forest floor. A 55 ft spruce was found to be 65 yr old when felled....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ARCTIC
Main Author: Stephens, F.R.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 1969
Subjects:
Glaciation
Plant succession
Plant ecology
Glaciers
Glacial epoch
Deglaciation
Arctic
glacier
glaciers
Alaska
Online Access:https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/66287
Description
Summary:The ecosystem on the snout of Kushtaka Glacier, a branch of the Martin River Glacier about 60 mi ESE of Cordova has reached the developmental stage when spruce forest has almost eliminated the alder from the site. Mosses carpet the forest floor. A 55 ft spruce was found to be 65 yr old when felled. A profile through the 36-in soil layer on the ice is described. Similar brush and forest growth occurs on many glaciers in coastal Alaska. Superglacial vegetation on stagnant ice of the Wisconsin glaciation may have been the seed sources for much newly deglaciated land.

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