Arctic Vegetation Plots in NPS Arctic Network Parks, Alaska, 2002-2008

The ARCN includes five national parks and preserves in northern Alaska encompassing 19.5 million acres and represents some of the wildest, most undisturbed areas left on earth: The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park, and the Noatak National Preserve.

The sampling sites were chosen to represent the full range of vegetation in the area with replication, and for uniformity in floristic composition and environmental conditions and were positioned on transects along toposequences within major physiographic units (riverine, lacustrine, lowland, upland, subalpine and alpine). Specific attributes include dominant vegetation, species, and cover, soil chemistry, physical characteristics, moisture, and organic matter, as well as site disturbance from various sources.