The primary objective of the Ecology Program is to describe the plant communities and ecological systems within the State of Alaska. Plant communities (or plant associations) are assemblages of species that respond similarly to environmental conditions such as climate, soil, topography, geology, and hydrology. Ecosystems (or ecological systems) represent recurring groups of biological communities that are found in similar physical environments and are influenced by similar dynamic ecological processes, such as fire or flooding.
Our program is continually working to catalogue, describe and assess the rarity of plant associations and ecological systems occurring in Alaska. Ecological systems have been described for Alaska in support of the National Vegetation Classification, which when completed will provide a hierarchal standard for the United States. Plant associations documented as occurring in Alaska have been assessed with respect to conservation status and compiled in a publically-available database for use in land management and conservation applications.
Map animal occurrences
Map plant distributions
Help us protect Alaska’s plants, animals, and their habitats
