Abstract
Vegetation profile data were collected as part of a forest inventory project in the Tanana Valley in interior Alaska, providing a means of characterizing the forest vegetation. The black spruce forest type was most common, followed by Alaska paper birch, and white spruce, quaking aspen, and balsam poplar. For individual tree species, black spruce was recorded on 68 percent of all plots, birch was recorded on 67 percent and white spruce on 58 percent. The distribution of growth habits in horizontal layers varied by forest type. There was a higher percentage tree cover in hardwood forest types. Shrubs were prominent in all forest types, dominating in the lowest horizontal layer in black spruce forests and mid layers in other forest types. The most common species recorded include (in descending order) lingonberry, black spruce, Alaska paper birch, bog Labrador tea, white spruce, green alder, bog blueberry, and prickly rose all recorded on at least 35 percent of all plots. A full census of vascular plants on 25 subplots accumulated almost 2.5 times as many species as the Vegetation profile protocol on 101 subplots on the same set of plots.
Parent Publication
Citation
Schulz, Bethany. 2015. Characterizing forest vegetation of the Tanana Valley: what can forest inventory and analysis deliver? In: Stanton, Sharon M.; Christensen, Glenn A., comps. 2015. Pushing boundaries: new directions in inventory techniques and applications: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2015. 2015 December 8–10; Portland, Oregon. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-931. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station: 48-54.
