The Nature of Southeast Alaska

Richard Carstensen, Bob Armstrong, Rita M. O'Clair

Description

Everything you ever wanted to know about the flora and fauna of Southeast Alaska is contained in the third edition of this lively field guide to the natural world, from bears to banana slugs, mountains to murrelets. Highlighting the most fascinating and unusual aspects of Southeast Alaska natural history, the book is also a guide to the most frequently seen plants and animals.
The overriding and underlying theme of Southeast Alaska is water, and inescapable moisture is the unifying feature of nearly all its habitats. From whales’ permanent immersion to banana slugs’ damp haunts, all our plants and animals contend with water. Only when droughts shrivel the rest of North America do Southeast residents count their soggy blessings.
Amount and distribution of water is the logical way to differentiate Southeast’s many natural habitats. These range from ocean, lakes, ponds, and rivers, to frequently submerged salt marshes and stream flood zones, to perennially saturated bogs and other freshwater wetlands, to the usually drenched rain forest and alpine tundra. After a rare two-week drought, it’s sometimes possible to sit in the forest understory without soaking our pants. Then rain resumes. Some habitats are defined by solidified water—glaciers and highcountry snowfields. The term “terrestrial” as applied to certain Southeast Alaskan habitats is somewhat generous; it actually means “occasionally free of water.”
The Pacific rain forest—Southeast Alaska is a geographic unit defined by the open Pacific Ocean on the west and the boundary with Canada on the north, east, and south. In some cases the lines on maps are ecologically as well as politically significant. For example, if you climb eastward over the crest of the Coast Range into British Columbia (an expeditionary venture!), you enter more than just a different nation. Precipitation declines suddenly in the mountains’ rainshadow. Flora and fauna are dramatically different. You’ve crossed a border in every sense of the word.

Sujets

• Fauna
• Wildlife
• Wild Life
• Animals
• Guide
• Flora
• Nature
• Alaska

Informations

• Publié par: West Margin Press
• Date de parution: 03 mars 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780882409290
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 9 Mo

Extrait

Praise for THE NATURE OF SOUTHEAST ALASKA:
Unlike the standard nature guides that explain how to recognize common animals, Nature stresses the web of interrelationships that link the regional flora and fauna. This affectionate examination of some of North America s most spectacular surviving old-growth forests will delight backpackers and armchair naturalists.
-Los Angeles Times Book Review
This is one book you must have along if you re planning to get marooned on a deserted Southeast Alaskan island. Since the authors-longtime Southeast teachers and biologists-have pondered everything in the Tongass from giant glaciers to the smallest no-see-ums, this book is probably the most comprehensive treatment you can get of the flora, fauna, and habitat of Southeast.
-Ketchikan Daily News
The Nature of Southeast Alaska does a good job at weaving together scientific research, personal observations, and down-to-earth writing.
-Sitka Sentinel
The authors write with humor and insight on a range of natural topics-from banana slugs and slime mold to glaciers, old-growth forests, and the reproductive problems of blueberry bushes . This witty reference book goes beyond the traditional field guide, offering in-depth and entertaining insights.
- Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
[This book is] the best Alaska regional nature guide . Unlike some more technical field guides, this one can be read with pleasure by nonspecialists. Without sacrificing their concern for facts, the authors conspire to make their text readable by describing their own field ventures in a lively fashion that conveys their enthusiasm.
-Anchorage Daily News
The Nature of Southeast Alaska
A GUIDE TO PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND HABITATS
THIRD EDITION
Richard Carstensen Robert H. Armstrong
Rita M. O Clair
Illustrations by Richard Carstensen
Photos by Robert H. Armstrong
Text 1992, 1997, 2014 by Richard Carstensen, Robert H. Armstrong, and Rita M. O Clair Illustrations 1992, 1997, 2014 by Richard Carstensen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of Alaska Northwest Books .
Third Edition 2014 Second Edition 1997 Second printing (updated) 1998
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Carstensen, Richard, 1950-. The nature of Southeast Alaska: A guide to plants, animals, and habitats / Richard Carstensen, Robert H. Armstrong, Rita M. O Clair; illustrations by Richard Carstensen. - Third edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-88240-990-0 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-88240-929-0 (e-book) ISBN 978-1-941821-21-3 (hardbound) 1. Natural history-Alaska, Southeast. I. Armstrong, Robert H., 1936- II. O Clair, Rita M., 1945- III. Title. QH105.A4O35 2014 508.798 3-dc23
2013045235
Alaska Northwest Books An imprint of P.O. Box 56118 Portland, OR 97238-6118 503-254-5591 www.graphicartsbooks.com
Cover designer: Elizabeth Watson Interior designer and cartographer: Richard Carstensen Illustrations: Richard Carstensen
All photographs by the authors unless otherwise indicated. Front cover : Bald eagle and chick. Inset : Nootka lupine and Mendenhall Glacier. Robert H. Armstrong. Back cover : Young black bear with sockeye salmon. Robert H. Armstrong.
Alaska Geographic is a nonprofit publisher, educator, and supporter of Alaska s parks, forests, and refuges. A portion of every purchase at Alaska Geographic bookstores directly supports educational and interpretive programs at Alaska s public lands. Learn more and become a supporting member at: www.alaskageographic.org
Your Connection to Alaska s Parks, Forests, and Refuges
CONTENTS
Preface First edition
Preface Third edition
Acknowledgments
The Wild Southeast
Habitats
Bedrock geology
Glacial history
Succession, habitats
Succession on glacial till
Old growth
High country
Streams, rivers, and lakes
Marshes and wet meadows
Peatlands
Salt marshes
Rocky intertidal
Mammals
Terrestrial mammals
Brown and black bears
The weasel family
Sitka black-tailed deer
Beavers, porkies, marmots
Red squirrels
Shrews, mice, and voles
Marine mammals
Birds
Important Bird Areas
Bird habitats
Bird sounds
Winter adaptations
Canada geese
Sea ducks
Ptarmigan
Bald eagles
Harriers, short-eared owls
Shorebirds
Murrelets
Rufous hummingbirds
Steller s jays
American dippers
Amphibians
Ranges and habitats
Western toads
Spotted and wood frogs
Rough-skinned newts
Fish
Dolly Varden char
Cutthroat trout
Coho salmon
Threespine sticklebacks
Sculpins
Pacific sand lance
Invertebrates
Mussels
Clams
Acorn barnacles
Dragons and damsels
Caddisflies
Butterflies
Pseudoscorpions
Fungi and lichens
Forest mushrooms
Fly agarics
Splash cups
Slime molds
Lichens
Beard- and witch s hair lichens
Plants
Mosses
Alpine adaptations
Plant dispersal
Ferns
Yellow skunk cabbage
Orchid strategies
Dwarf mistletoe
Fern-leaved goldthread
Poisonous plants
Carnivorous plants
Devil s club
Bunchberry
Blueberries
Afterword
Common and scientific names
Bibliography
Index
About the authors
Unfurling buds of Sitka spruce in May. Southeast Alaskans gather these edible tips for preserves and beer-making.
PREFACE FIRST EDITION
Our collective enthusiasm for the natural history of Southeast Alaska precipitated this book. It started with the nature hikes. One of us would collect specimens; another would photograph them or take notes. Identifying things was the most pressing need initially. Then came the questions. How are plants such as yellow skunk cabbage and early blueberry pollinated, since they often bloom before the snow melts and before we see insects flying about? What do short-eared owls eat? Why do some places support towering spruce forests, while others produce only scrubby pines and sphagnum bogs? Whether emerging together or singly from bog or forest, we came to wonder how each small piece fit into the greater puzzle of Southeast Alaska s natural history.
We pored over the available scientific literature, often collecting all the information we could find on a subject. We interviewed resident experts on tree physiology and pathology, landslides, brown bear denning behavior, and marine plankton. As capital of Alaska and headquarters of many state and federal research agencies, Juneau has a pool of professional biologists and geologists perhaps unmatched by any other city its size. And when local knowledge was insufficient, Rita O Clair prompted the University of Alaska Southeast to bring in authorities on fungi, lichens, mosses, and insects to teach classes so intensive that our heads would swim dizzily for months afterward with new names and new insights. On a few occasions we set up our own research studies, but mostly we just observed and speculated.
We complemented each other well. Rita had a background in invertebrates and plants, Bob Armstrong in fish and birds, Richard Carstensen in mammals and habitats. Our illustrative skills also dovetailed; Rita and Bob amassed encyclopedic photographic files, while Richard concentrated on ink drawings. We enjoyed teaching each other and dabbling in subjects new to us. We resisted the tendency to specialize, feeling that good generalists were sorely needed, we needn t be embarrassed to be dilettantes, and, finally, being generalists was fun! Slowly we realized we had become naturalists.

Wolf scat on alpine ridge crest, with toe bone, claw, and sun-bleached hair of hoary marmot.
Eventually our interests and increasing knowledge evolved into the rewarding task of teaching others. We taught courses and workshops in landforms, general biology, ecology, botany, zoology, habitat mapping, postglacial succession, natural history of Glacier Bay, old-growth forests, alpine and subalpine communities, wetlands, intertidal and marine habitats, bird identfication, biology of freshwater fish, migration of Alaska s fishes, nature photography, animal tracks and sign, wild edibles, kayaking, and outdoor survival. We found that teaching others was also the fastest and surest motivation to teach ourselves, and with each class we learned perhaps more than most of our students.
Our strongest motivation in writing The Nature of Southeast Alaska was to extend our teaching beyond the classroom to residents and visitors. The study of natural history is the first step in repaying our debt to the earth. We believe that to take our natural inheritance for granted is tantamount to ensuring its destruction. From teaching, we ve learned that appreciation awakens a sense of stewardship. Our grandchildren deserve to inherit the sea lion rookeries, cedar groves, sedge flats, and sockeye runs we are privileged to enjoy today.
PREFACE THIRD EDITION
More than twenty years have passed since first publication of The Nature of Southeast Alaska -years that have seen huge advances, not only in understanding of northwest-coast natural history, but also in the world of publishing. We re still getting requests for this little guide, and are pleased that it remains a text in high school and college classes, a traveler s companion on the marine highwa