Nunataks
Southwest Alaska Network. 2018. Nunataks. Southwest Alaska Network
Shifts in the composition and structure of sensitive plant communities may provide early indication of change. Subtle changes in the environment may have significant long-term effects on communities that are strongly controlled by physical factors (e.g., hydrology, snow cover) or occur at the edge of their range. Among the sensitive communities targeted for monitoring in Southwest Alaska parks are nunataks, alpine ridges surrounded by ice. Nunataks are of interest due to their geographic isolation, their expected sensitivity to environmental change (Jørgensen et al. 2011), and the possibility that some of these sites may have supported populations that survived the Last Glacial Maximum (Late Wisconsin), approximately 20,000 years bp (Manley 2002). In addition to serving as refugia for rare species, nunataks may also play a role in the re-establishment of species into recently deglaciated areas.
- Type
- Resource Brief
- Authors
- Southwest Alaska Network
- Date of Issue
- 2018-03
- Publisher
- Southwest Alaska Network
- Units
- KEFJ , LACL , SWAN
- Keywords
- alpine, rare species, refugia
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Glacial Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Vegetation Complex