
Bishop 1989 Haines Airport phase-2
Return to the Nexus Between 1988 and 1989, Environaid made a total of 8 visits to Sawmill Wetland. Initial work…
1989 | Bishop, Bishop & Carstensen | 47 pagesDiscoverySoutheast.org
On glacially rebounding sites throughout northern Southeast, lush herbaceous meadows of variable width on recently elevated tideland begin just above extreme high water. The meadow surfaces are generally well-drained and eventually succeed to forest. But as long as uplift continues at a more rapid pace than world sea-level rise, new uplift meadow will be created from tidal marsh as fast as it is lost to advancing forest.
Northwest over uplift parkland of Eeyák’w Héeni (Peterson Creek) parkland to Eeyák’w, small rapid (Amalga Harbor), September, 2015. In left distance is delta of Asx’ée, twisted tree (Eagle River). During the Juneau Wetlands Management Plan Update Project, 2014-2015, the Bosworth field team assessed forested and floodplain wetlands, fen/marsh, and lush wet meadows, all on former tidelands in this area.
Contour lines show zones of equivalent uplift rates.
Sediment composition of raised former tideland depends upon the currents and waves that originally delivered these materials. Where current was slow or backwatered, fine sediments now underlie wet incipient fens that may never succeed to forest. But more typically the sediment is coarse enough to provide good drainage, supporting plants such as fireweed, bluejoint, buttercup, lupine, angelica, chocolate lily and hemlock parsley.
Species composition of uplift meadows is an unpredictable mosaic depending on whatever seeds first sprouted on the newly supratidal ground. Beneath these herbs, the most common meadow mosses, such as Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus and Ptilium crista-castrensis, form a blanket over mineral soil that for a time prevents establishment of light, winged seeds of conifer trees and alders. Foresters refer to this process as “capture,” a delay in the succession to forest. From the perspective of bears and voles, that delay is beneficial; uplift spruce communities that follow are good for cover but offer little to eat. Ironically though, it is often bears who finally speed the succession to forest, by their digging activities—for roots and voles—that expose soil where spruce seed can germinate.
In many uplift meadows, young spruces advance as scattered saplings, resulting in an inviting parkland; at other sites, the young spruces advance as a closed wall of densely stocked young trees. Small deciduous trees and shrubs such as alder, willow, and salmonberry also invade some uplift meadows, especially on finer sediments.
As with the break between high marsh and low marsh, uplift meadows are a unique habitat that is inadequately mapped by NWI. Because of the dynamism and extreme ecological importance of this habitat, mapping it should be a priority for future GIS work. Fortunately the boundaries of this habitat are quite apparent on recent orthophotography, and even more obvious on low elevation USFS aerial photographs.
Return to the Nexus Between 1988 and 1989, Environaid made a total of 8 visits to Sawmill Wetland. Initial work…
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