The Alaskan Landscape: An Introduction for Limnologists

Abstract

Alaska is a land of vastness and contrast covering approximately 152 million ha. It contains many mountain ranges with peaks to 6106 m and extensive areas of lowlands. Climate is extremely variable across the state from the coastal rain forests of southeast Alaska through the boreal forest taiga of the interior to the treeless North Slope above the Arctic Circle. Mean monthly temperatures range from −23°to +17°C and annual precipitation ranges from 500 cm in southeast Alaska to 5 cm in the most northerly areas. Rivers, lakes, and wetlands dominate the landscape. There are more than 3 million lakes larger than 4.5ha and 94 lakes larger than 2500 ha. The largest lake is Lake Iliamna covering 2.63 × 105ha or 2622km2 (Kline, 1991). Ten rivers are longer than 500km (see Fig. 1.1 for map of major rivers, lakes, and wetlands).