Bears, Glaciers, and Mosquitoes: Ecology of Prince William Sound, Alaska Based on Sierra Club trip K

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Bears, Glaciers, and Mosquitoes Ecology of
Prince William Sound, AlaskaBased on Sierra
Club trip Kayaking the Glaciers of Prince
William SoundJune 2006

• Mariann Burright
• Life Sciences/Chemistry Team
• December 15, 2006

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Bears, Glaciers, and Mosquitoes Ecology of
Prince William Sound, Alaska

• Cultural History
• First Alaskans
• The Baidarka
• European Exploration
• American Expeditions
• Land Rights

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Alaska
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Prince William Sound, Southcentral Alaska
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Whittier Passage to the PWS
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PWS First Alaskans

• Human settlements as early as 10,000 years ago.
• Early settlers came from Asia via the Bering Land
  Bridge, Beringia.
• Appeared three times as water between Alaska and
  Siberia froze in successive ice ages.

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PWS First Alaskans

• 4,000 years ago Eskimo groups hunted whales,
  seals, sea otters.
• 2,500 years ago, Chugach and Unegkurmiut Eskimos
  displaced earlier settlers in the Sound.
• Chugach hunted marine mammals and fish using
  baidarkas and carried cargo in umiaks.

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PWS Baidarka

• Baidarka frame made with spruce and hemlock,
  preserved with seal or sea lion skins coated with
  shark liver oil.

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PWS European Exploration

• In 1747 Russian Vitus Bering was first Westerner
  to discover Alaska.
• In 1778, Capt. James Cook with the Royal British
  Navy sails into Sandwich Sound.
• By 1793 Russians founded trading post with the
  Chugach.

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PWS American Expeditions

• 1799-1867 Russian-American company governed PWS,
  U.S. purchases Alaska in 1867.
• In 1899, railroad tycoon and philanthropist
  Edward Harriman takes a scientific expedition to
  the PWS.
• U.S. brings salmon canneries, fox farms, gold and
  copper mining.

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PWS Land Rights

• 1907, President Roosevelt creates Chugach
  National Forest, encompassing all native lands in
  PWS.
• 1924, Department of the Interior rules only
  Congress can sell land.
• 1936, Congress granted Alaskans right to
  incorporate villages.
• 1989, state and federal agencies purchased
  easements from Alaskan corporations for land
  preservation after Exxon Valdez spill.
• By 2010, Chugach Alaska Corporation (CAC) will
  reach full entitlement to their lands.

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PWS Natural History

• Landmass formation
• Mountain ranges
• Glaciers
• Topography climate
• Ecosystems

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PWS Natural History Alaskan Landmass (How did it
get there?)

• Alaska formed by 50 different rock landmasses
  originating thousands of miles south.
• West coast of the US forming by plate tectonic
  action for 200 million years.
• Chugach landscape still being shaped by
  geochemical and biological processes.

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PWS Natural History Chugach Mountains

• Chugach is 1 of 39 mountain ranges in Alaska.
• Second highest range in the state, and highest
  coastal range worldwide. Highest elevation is
  13,176 ft.
• Approximately 10 of Chugach range is glaciated.

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PWS Natural History Chugach Mountains
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PWS Natural History Glaciers, Mountain shapers
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PWS Natural History Glaciers

• Glaciation is only one process shaping Chugach
  mountains.
• Glaciation changes young serrated mountain edges
  to rounded stooping shapes.
• Glaciers sculpt mountain ranges by degrading rock
  surface in northern latitudes.

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PWS Natural History Glaciers

• Glaciers generally classified into warm or cold.
• Warm glaciers are those where temperature varies
  little from surface to bottom, form with greater
  precipitation, not frozen to rocks.
• Cold glaciers have lower temperatures with depth
  and are attached to rocks, occur in Antarctica.

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PWS Natural History Glaciers in the Sound

• PWS has waterfront or tidewater glaciers, they
  terminate at seawater.
• Steep terrain of Sound makes them active and fast
  moving.
• Moderate sea temperatures cause tidewater glacier
  melting, cracking, and calving.

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PWS Natural History Kayaking tidewater glaciers
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PWS Natural History yes, the ice is swirling!
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PWS Natural History Tidewater glaciers
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PWS Natural History Tidewater glaciers
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PWS Natural History skookumchucks, another
effect of glaciers

• Water in the PWS is constantly in motion.
• Currents are generated by ocean tides and
  freshwater flowing from glaciers.
• Skookumchucks, or strong tidal currents are
  created when water encounters a narrow entrance
  to a large shallow bay.

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PWS Natural History skookumchucks

• Ewan Bays skookumchuck

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PWS Natural History Glaciers as habitats

• Animal species use glaciers as a niche, where
  they breed, rest, and feed.
• Black-legged kittiwakes inhabit rocky cliffs and
  feed on invertebrates as calving glaciers expose
  them to predators.
• Harbor seals gather on floating ice seeking
  shelter from bears

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PWS Natural History Glacial habitats
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PWS Natural History Chugach Mountains and Climate

• Northern latitude and mountainous terrain create
  local weather conditions
• In 61 North degrees latitude, sun hits ground at
  low angle creating less heat
• Mountains influence air flow on different sides
• Northwestern warm moist air from Gulf of Alaska
  is forced up the south side of the mountains,
  slowing movements of fronts.
• Most rainfall occurs on the southeast side of the
  Chugach State Park.

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PWS Natural History Ecology

• Ecologists study the structure and function of
  nature.
• Structure is the distribution and abundance of
  naturally occurring species.
• Function implies processes like energy flow and
  nutrient cycling through the earth.

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PWS Natural History Ecology

• Ecologists divide the world into biomes, or units
  that reflect similar features of plants, animals,
  climate

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PWS Natural History Ecosystems

• Ecosystem specific area of the earth and the
  attendant interactions among organisms and the
  physical-chemical environment present at the
  site. from Ecology Basics. Salem Press, 2004.

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PWS Natural History Ecosystems

• Ecosystems present in the Sound
• Hemlock-spruce Forest, dominant association

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PWS Natural History Ecosystems

• Hemlock-Spruce Forest
• Dominant Plants western hemlock, Sitka spruce,
  rose, devils club, huckleberry, blueberry
• Dominant Animals moose, black and brown bear,
  porcupine, red and northern flying squirrels

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PWS Natural History Ursus Americanus (Black Bear)

• .Grows to 6ft.
• .Color from cinnamon to dark black
• .Short claws, good swimmers and climbers
• .Reclusive in thick forested areas, hunted by
  humans
• .Almost strictly vegeterians, but will eat
  carrion, insects, and fish.
• Image http//www.americanbear.org/BARAC0033A.jpg

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PWS Natural History Smaller predators

• Alaska has 27 species of mosquitoes, the Chugach
  National Forest has 16 of those species.
• Their larvae are aquatic, feeding on algae,
  pollen, and dead organic matter.
• Females bite to obtain blood for egg production.

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PWS Natural History Muskeg Bog

• A type of wetland occurring in a poorly drained
  area
• Dominant plants Sphagnum mosses, sedges,
  lichens, cranberry, blueberry
• Animals muskrat, tundra vole, little brown bat.

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PWS Natural History Rocky Intertidal

• Dominant Plants rockweed, lichens, Irish Moss
• Animals barnacles, mussels, herring, river
  otter.

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PWS Sound Marine Ecosystem

• Dominant Plants Plankton
• Animals zooplankton, Harbor Porpoise, Pacific
  Harbor Seal, Northern Sea Lion, Humpback Whale

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PWS
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Works Consulted

• Armstrong, Robert H. Hermans, Marge. Alaskas
  Natural Wonders A Guide to the Phenomena of the
  Far North. Portland, OR. Alaska Northwest Books,
  2000.
• Twardock, Paul. Kayaking Camping in Prince
  William Sound. Valdez, AK. Prince William Sound
  Books, 2004.
• Zimmerman, Jenny. A Naturalists Guide to Chugach
  State Park. Anchorage, AK. A.T. Publishing and
  Printing, Inc. 1994.

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Works Consulted

• The Nature of Alaska An Introduction to Familiar
  Plants, Animals Outstanding Natural
  Attractions. Phoenix, AZ. Waterford Press, 2005.

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Photo Credits

• Trip Photos
• Geoff Johnson
• Adam Kuenzel.
• Others
• Baidarka www.shearwater-boats.com
• Black-legged Kittiwakes Birds of North America
  Online
• Biome map http//www.marietta.edu/biol/biomes/bi
  omemap.jpg
• Ecosystems map of Alaska The Nature of Alaska.
  Phoenix, AZ Waterford Press, 2005.
• Sitka Spruce http//www.globalforestscience.org/r
  esearch/trees_of_Canada/CONIFERS/SPRUCE/SITKASPR.G
  IF

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Photo Credits

• Sitka Spruceneedles http//www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fore
  sts/local-resources/images/sitkaspruce.gif
• Western Hemlock forest http//www.blevinsphoto.co
  m/images/283_15c.jpg
• Black bear http//www.americanbear.org/BARAC0033A
  .jpg
• Rockweed http//olympiccoast.noaa.gov/images/body
  pic_rockweed_lg.jpg
• Harbor Porpoise http//nia.ecsu.edu/ureoms2004/te
  ams/noaa/grfx/porpoise.jpg
• Humpback Whale tail http//www.learner.org/jnorth
  /images/graphics/u-z/hback_tail_CINMS.jpg