Phytogeography and Vegetation of the Bering Sea District: Encyclopedia Arctica 6: Plant Sciences (Regional)
Phytogeography and Vegetation of the Bering Sea District
EA-Plant Sciences
[Eric Hulten]
PHYTOGEOGRAPHY AND VEGETATION OF THE BERING SEA DISTRICT
Page | |
CHARACTER AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE FLORA | 1 |
Circumpolar Plants | 2 |
Arctic Montane Plants | 4 |
American and Eurasiatic Plants | 6 |
Endemic Plants | 11 |
Chukotsk Peninsula | 11 |
Anadyr | 11 |
Aleutian Islands (including Pribilof Islands) | 11 |
Bering Strait District | 12 |
Shores and Islands of the Bering Sea | 12 |
VEGETATION | 14 |
Chukotsk Peninsula | 16 |
Anadyr | 16 |
Penzhina-Gizhiga | 18 |
Kamchatka | 18 |
Commander Islands and the Aleutian Islands | 20 |
Alaska Peninsula | 20 |
Eastern Shore of the Bering Sea | 21 |
Islands in the Bering Sea | 22 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 24 |
EA-Plant Sciences
[Eric Hulten]
position phytogeographically in the arctic and boreal belts. The distribution
patterns converge toward the Bering Sea. This is certainly not an incidental
phenomenon but the result of the large migrations between Asia and America which
have swept over the region in past geological ages. The Bering Sea area was
to a large extent unglaciated during the Pleistocene glaciations and the climatic
changes there during the Quaternary seem to have been less severe than in most
other places in the arctic and boreal world. Ancient plant populations have
therefore remained more or less undisturbed, or at any rate less depauperated
there than in most places elsewhere. The result is that the vari
is larger in the Bering sea area than in most other place in the same latitude.
The circumpolar arctic-montane group.
The boreal Eurasiatic and arctic montane Eurasiatic groups.
The arctic and boreal American groups.
The Eurasiatic-western American group.
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
The American-eastern Asiatic group.
The eastern Asiatic and eastern Asiatic Pacific groups.
The western American and western American-Pacific groups.
The northern Pacific group.
The central Asiatic group.
well differentiated endemic species.
have a more or less large gap in the area of the Bering Strait district, or some–
times the gap is still larger, even comprising the entire Bering Sea area. Plants
belonging to these groups once migrated over Bering Strait when the climate was
more genial than it is now, but they were exterminated there when the climate
deteriorated.
Bering Strait. To them belong, among others:
Lycopodium annotinum | Saxifraga hirculus |
Lycopodium clavatum | Parnassia palustris sens.lat. |
Lycopodium selago | Potentilla palustris |
Equisetum arvense | Hippuris vulgaris |
Equisetum pretense | Empetrum nigrum |
Eriophorum angustifolium | Andromeda polifolia |
Luzula multiflora | Vaccinium uliginosum |
EA-PS: HulteN: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
Allium schoenoprasum | Vaccinium vitis-idaea |
Stellaria crassifolia | Adoxa moschatellina |
Caltha palustris | Calium boreale |
Cardamine pratensis |
Juniperus communis montana | Lathyrus palustris |
Potamogeton graminous | Drosera rotundifolia |
Carex limosa | Campanula rotundifolia sens.lat. |
Scirpus peluatris | Naumburgia thyrsiflora |
circumpolar plants:
Equisetum hiemale | Carex lasiocarpa |
Dryopteris spinulosa | Carex vasicaria |
Dryopteris thelyoteris | Calla palustris |
Pteridium aquilinium | Lemna minor |
Scheuchzeria palustris |
Lemna tri
|
Potamogeton praelongus | Ceratophyllum demersum |
Potamogeton zosterig
|
Ranunculus paucistamineus |
Alisma plantago-quatica | Dorsera anglica |
Phalaris arundinacea | Potentilla norvegica sens.lat. |
Poa palustris | Rubus idaeus sens.lat. |
Phragmites communis | Myriophyllum verticillatum |
Carex diandra | Utricularia minor |
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
species occur on both sides of the Bering Sea, as for instance in the case of
Populus where the Eurasiatic P. tremula is replaced by P. tremiloides in America.
Bering Strait area but with gaps in the Aleutain Islands, where there are very
few arctic-montane plants with a continuous distribution. [ ] A only the most fre–
quent arctic-montane species with a good spreading capacity occur all along the
Aleutian chain, such as:
Lycopodium alpinum | Polygonum viviparum |
Phleum alpinum | Sibbaldia procumbens |
Luzula perviflora | Louiseleuria procumbens |
plants:
Polystichum lenchitis | Juncus castaneus |
Cryotogramma achrostichoides | Salix roticulata |
Hierochloe alpina | Vernnica wormskjoldii |
Dryopteris fragran | Ranunculus hyperboreus |
Cvstopteris Montana | Ranunculus pygmaeus |
Woodsia alpina | Thalictrum alpinum |
Woodsia glabella | Draba alpine |
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
Eriophorum opacum | Saxifraga foliolosa |
Eriophorum scheuchzeri | Saxifraga nivalis |
Arctagrostis latifolia | Saxifraga oppositifolia |
Cobresia myosuroides | Saxifraga cernus |
Carex misandra | Sedum roseum |
Carex rotundata | Potentilla nivea |
Juncus biglumis | Drayas |
Lugula spicata | Astragalus alpinus |
Salix glauca | Epilobium anagallidifolium |
Koenigia islandica | Epilobium dayuricum |
Rumex acetosa alpina | Arctostanphylos alpina |
Minuartia biflora | Phyllodoce coerulea |
Minuartia verna | Diapensia lapponica |
Melandryum apetalum | Pleurogyne rotate |
Melandryum furcatum | Gentiana tenella |
Sagina linnaei | Pinguicula villosa |
Silene acaulis | Artemisia borealis |
the Aleutians, such as
Poa alpina | Minuartia stricta |
Carex capitata | Rhododendron lapponicum |
Carex microglochin | Cassiope tetragona |
Carex rupestris | Pedicularis lapponica |
Cobresia simpliciuscula |
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
and that is comparatively recent time its members have migrated to the Aleutians
both from the east and from the west.
Aleutians does not suit them, but this does not seem very probable as they in–
habit the arctic shores with somewhat similar climatic conditions, although
with less precipitation and cold winters.
deep
It does not constitute a phytogeographical boundary line, the flora on its eastern
and western shores being very similar. However, many American plants reach west–
ward to central Alaska or a little farther, and many Asiatic plants as far as
to the Anadyr Valley.
enumerated below. Most of them do not reach the shores of Bering Strait.
Picea mariana | Platanthera obtusata |
Calamagrostis inexopanss | Pipulus tacamahacca |
Festuca saximontana | Salix fullertonensis |
Zygadenus elegans | Salix richardsonii |
Cypripedium passerinum | Nuphar polysepalum |
Anemone drummondii | Cicuta mackenzieana |
Aphargmus eschscholtzianus | Gentiana arctophila |
Therefon richardsonii | Polemonium pulcherrimum |
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
Saxifraga spicata | Mertensia peniculata |
Saxifraga tricuspidata | Mertensia eastwoodae |
Sorbus scopulina | Pentstemon procerus |
Potentilla virgulata | Castilleja hyperborea |
Lupinus arcticus | Utricularia macrorhiza |
Astragalus eucoemus | Galium brandegei |
Oxytropis gracilia | Viburnum peuciflorum |
Shepherdia candensis | Petasites hyperboreus |
Bupleurum americanum | Senecio lugens |
Oxytropis gracilis , Mertensia peniculata , M. eastwoodae , Castilleja hyperborea ,
Galium brandegei , and Petasites hyperboreus belong to critical groups and might
well be found also in easternmost Asia. Zygadenus elegans , Platanthere obtusata ,
Sorbus scopulina , Astragalus eucosmus , Bupleurum americanum , and Utricularia
macrorhiza have closely related Asiatic counterparts, and Aphragums eschscholtzianus
is an inconspicuous plant easily overlooked. The most remarkable species in the
list are Picea mariana , Populus tacamahacca , Lupinus arcticus , Shepherdia cana–
densis , and Viburnum pauciflorum . These play a more or less prominent part in
the vegetation and are important purely American components in the flora of the
American side of the Bering Sea distirct.
are the following:
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
Pinus [ ] pumila | Polygonum peylowskianum |
Kobresia shoenoides | Polygonum undulatum |
Salix pyrolifolia | Apemone debilis |
Dicentra peregrina | Gentiana auriculata |
Corydalis ambigua | Eritrichium villosum |
Ermania parryoides | Crepis chrysantha |
Oxytropis revuluta |
tant part in the vegetation.
easternmost Asia, for example:
Salix Richardsonii | Oxytropis Maydelliana |
Parnassia Kotzebue i | [ ] Gentiana propinqua |
Dryas integrifolia | Chrysanthemum integrifolium |
Potentilla Vahliana |
such as:
Claytonia eschscholtzii | Potentilla elegans |
Oxygraphis glacialis | Saxifraga nudicaulis |
Delphinium brachycentrum | Phlox sibirica |
Cordydalis pauciflora | Primula nivalis |
Potentilla biflora |
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
Yukon, e.g.:
Carex bonazensis | Ranunculus gelidus |
Juncus leucochlamys | Trifolium lupinaster |
Luzula rufescens | Cnidium ajanense |
Cerastium maximum | Artemisia laciniata |
Stellaria Laxmannii | Artemisia macrobotrys |
Arenaria capillaries |
graphical boundary line should be clear.
Aleutian Island, investigated botanically by the present writer in 1932. The
most outstanding component in the flora is the Pacific group, containing plants
distributed along the northern shores of the Pacific Ocean and sometimes protrud–
ing northward also along the shores and island of the Bering Sea. To this
group belong:
Poa hispidula | Rubus stellatus |
Poa turneri | Geum rotundifolium |
Deschampsis beringensis | Rhododendron kamtschaticum |
Carex macrochaeta | Phyllodoce aleutica |
Carex lyngbyaei cryptocarna | Cassiope lycopodioides |
Carex pauciflora | Trientalis europaea arctica |
Orchis aristata | Primula cuneifolia |
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
Salix crassijulis | Pedicularis chamissonis |
Fritillaria kamtchatcensis | Veronica stelleri |
Cerastium fischerianum | Plantago macrocarpa |
Aconitum maximum | Campanula dasyanthe |
Draba hyperborean | Arnica unalaschcensis |
Chrysosplenium beringianum | Taraxacum trigonolobum |
Saxifraga bracteata | Hieracium triste |
Potentilla nana |
Aleutian chain or at both ends. The middle part of the chain is thus much
poorer in species than the two ends. At the western end of the chain a few
Asiatic species occur which are common in Kamchatka but are not otherwise
found in America. These are:
Veratrum album oxysepalum | Sorbus sambucifolia |
Allium victorialis platyphylla | Primula cuneifolia Dubyi |
Cypripedium yatabeanum | Mertensia asiatica |
Platanthera tipuloides | Senecio palmatus |
Ranunculus acris frigidus | Cirsium kamtschaticum |
Cardamine regelliana | Picris hieracioides kamtchatica |
Aruncus sylyester | Calcalia suriculata |
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
sense, including Alaska, Yukon, Anadyr, and Kamchatka. Many of them are very
well-marked species, while others, such as those belonging to the apomictic genera
Antennaria and Taraxacum , are very closely related to one another and to more
widespread types. An enumeration of the endemics in some of the districts is
give below.
Carex arakemensis | Draba chamissonis |
Trollius chartosepalus | Artemisia laciniatiformis |
Cardamine victoris | Sorbus anadyrensis |
Calamagrostis czykczorum | Potentilla anadyrensis |
Poa soczawai | Ranunculus anadyriensis |
Salix anadyrensis | Claytonia vassilievii |
Agrostis anadyrensis | Oxytropis dorogastajskyi |
Polystichum aleuticum | Draba aleutica |
Calamagrostis purpurascens arctica | Saxifraga aleutica |
[ ] Poa turneri | Saxifraga punctata insularis |
Elymus aleuticus | Artemisia aleutica |
Stellaria ruscifolia aleutica | Artemisia unalaskens is aleutica |
Cerastium aleuticum | Taraxacum chromocarpum |
Ranunculus occidentalis nelsonii | Taraxacum everdami |
Papayer alaskanum | Taraxacum onchophorum |
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
Colpodium wrightii | Smelowkia calycina intergrifolia |
Carex jacobi peteri | Primula paucifolia |
Arenaria dicranoides | Artemisia senjavinensis |
Melandrium soczavianum | Erigeron muirii |
Ranunculus glacialis chamissonis | |
Papaver [ ] walpolei |
Puccinellia laeviuscula | Artemisia globularia |
Alopecurus alpinus stejnegeri | Saussurea viscida |
Carex pribylovensis | Taraxacum angulatum |
Carex karaginensis | Taraxacum callorbinorum |
Epilobium behringianum | Taraxacum chamissonis |
Pedicularis penellii | Taraxacum demissum |
Antennaria monocephala exilis | Taraxacum fabbeanum |
Artemisia arctica beringensis | Taraxacum pribilofense |
parts of Alaska and Yukon numerous endemics are found, which are not enumerated here.
survived the Pleistocene glaciations and later spread eastward as well as west–
ward from there. The areas of these species are usually arranged symmetrically
with Bering Strait as the center. American as well as Asiatic plants in remote
periods crossed Bering Strait or the northern part of the Bering Sea, which was
doubtless dry at certain periods before the last glaciations, and now have isolated
areas on the opposite continent is more southern latitudes.
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
component in the flora is probably very old and occupies the shored and islands
in the Bering Sea, chiefly the Aleutians, stretching far south as well in eastern
Asia as in western America. Many of them nowadays have gaps in their Aleutian
area caused by the deterioration of the climate. On the Asiatic side, eastern
Asiatic species penetrate northward toward Being Strait and eastward along the
Aleutians, just as western American plants penetrate northward along the shore
of the Bering Sea and westward along the Aleutians. In the interior of eastern–
most Siberia continental plants, mostly Siberian, penetrate eastward but most
of them do not reach the coast, just as continental American plants penetrate
westward through interior Yukon and Alaska, likewise for the most part not reach–
ing the Bering Sea. The great age of flora is emphasized by the high percent–
tage of endemics and by the often rather disrupted patterns of distribution.
butional groups not mentioned above are:
Alaska.
and Kamchatka.
on the one hand, and in Sakhalin, Honshu, and Okhotsk, on the
other, with a very isolated locality in Alaska.
Alaska and a few other places in America.
locality in Alaska.
lated locality in Alaska.
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
studied. The mountains along the coast between Anadyr and Kamchatka are as
yet completely unknown botanically, and very few studies of the vegetation have
been made in Alaska.
area, and, as the summer is rather cold, the soil does not thaw very deeply.
This prevents tree growths. (In places where the soil thaws deeper, for instance,
through fire in the Pinus pumila thickets, the forest grows well, a fact that
demonstrates the influence of the frozen soil.)
Kamchatka and along the western coast of that peninsula in Asia, and from Seward
Peninsula along the coast to the base of Alaska Peninsula and western Kodiak in
America. The islands in the Bering Sea as well as the Aleutians are treeless
(with the exception of a planted grove of Sitka spruce at Uhalaska). In
Asia the Larix dehurica forest protrudes into the valleys of the Stanovoi Moun–
tains to slightly west of Markova in Anadyr and reaches the Okhotsk Sea somewhat
west of the Taigonos Peninsula. East of this limit there are alluvial forests
of Salix ( Chosenia) macrolepis , Populus suaveolens , and Betula cajanderi along the
large rivers. Kamchatka is phytogeographically and island, isolated from the
Siberian woods by a broad tundra belt. It is covered with forests of Betula
ermani , but in its central part there are not very extensive forests of Larix
dahurica and Picea jezoensis .
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
resinifera , Picea glauca , and Populus tacamabacca , bordering in the most on
the treeless area, and a narrow southern coastal strip of forest, chiefly of
Picea sitchensis and Tauga heterophylla , reaching westward to eastern Kodiak
Island and the base of Alaska Peninsula bordering on the interior forest to the
north and on the treeless area to the west. In central Alaska an isolated area
of Larix laricina occurs which has been regarded as differing from the L. laricina
farther east. In southwestern Alaska, Detula kenaica occurs.
somewhat widely discussed. It seems to me that it is hardly possible to separate
it in principle from the circumpolar tundra belt. The floristic composition is
different, but this also is true of the Chukotsk Peninsula and northwestern Alaska,
which cannot be excluded from the circumpolar tundra belt. Most of the plants of
the arctic tundras occur also in the treeless Bering Sea area, but in addition
to them there are numerous Pacific, eastern Asiatic, and western American species
superimposed upon the arctic flora, and gradually increasing in number southward.
a large extent in this treeless area and likewise on the mountains of Kamchatka,
the Aleutians, and the Alaskan mainland.
southern phase of the arctic tundra zone.
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
tundra zone of the Arctic. Polygon tundra is lacking or nearly so. Cladonia
tundra and Sphagnum play a large part in the vegetation. Vast areas are covered
by Eriophorum vaginatum tussock-tundra. Pacific and eastern Asiatic species alien
to other parts of the Arctic occur especially in the meadows. In the mountains
lichen tundra predominates with Pinum pumila thickets up to 150 to 250 meters.
Stanovoi Mountain chain do woods of Larix dahurica occur as a narrow strip in the
valleys along the rivers. In post-Pleistocene time Larix forests occurred also
in the valley of Belaya river 150 km. farther east of where they are found now.
A fossil fir, Picea anadyrensis , has been found in Anadyr in layers supposed
to be contemporary with the earliest [ ] Pleistocene glaciations.
similar to that of the lichen-moss tundra zone of the Arctic. It is very uniform
and consists mostly of Eriophorum vaginatum tussock-tundra, or of boggy associa–
tions with Sphagnum between the herbs. Lakes bordered with Arctophila fulva and
Senecio congestus are common. The slopes along the shore are usually covered
with Alnus crispa thickets. The seas develop into swamps through the growth of
Carex aquatilis , C. rotundata , C. chordorrhiza , and Potentilla palustris . The
large river valleys are fringed with forests of Salix macrolepis , Populus suaveolens ,
and Betula cajanderi. Salix macrolepis always occurs at the very shore on alluvial
sand, and this tree and Populus , which occurs somewhat higher up on the banks, are
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
confined to the inundation zone of the river. When the river changes its coursethe tree in the drying-out branches [ ] of the river die. In the Populus woods
the undergrowth is very varied. It can consist of mosses, of Alnus fruticosa ,
Betula Middendorfii , Rosa acicularis , Spiraea salicifolia , or Vaccinium
uliginosum . Between the shrubs there are open spots of abundant grasses,
chiefly Calamagrostis canadensis langsdorffii , with single herbs such as
Mulgedium sibiricum , Aconitum delphinifolium , Bromus richardsonii , Epilobium
angustifolium , Festuca altaica , Galium boreale , Pyrola asarifolia incarnata ,
and Rubus arcticus. Salix macrolepis attains a height of 15 to 16 meters with
a trunk diameter of 40 to 50 cm. Populus suaveolens attains a height of 10
to 15 m. with a trunk up to 50 cm. in diameter. The birches, which occur
scattered, are 8 to 15 m. high. In the northernmost localities where this
fringing forest occurs, Salix macrolepis predominates. It is, thus, the tree
that penetrates farthest to the northeast in Asia. It is admittedly very
peculiar that this high-grown tree occurs far out in the otherwise treeless
tundra. The reason for this must be historical. It should probably be re–
garded as a relict from the Tertiary woods once occupying the area.
Stanovoi Mountains, a subalpine zone with thickets of Pinus pumila , Alnus fruticosa ,
and Betula middendorffii occurs up to about 300 meters above the sea. The thickets
are 1/2 to 1 m. high, and Alnus growing on talus slopes alternate with Pinus
pumila occurring on more stony slopes and open spots.
In the Pinus pumila thickets it is very variable. Sometimes there is practically
no undergrowth; in other cases mosses, and in still others lichens. predominate.
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
that of the Anadyr region. In the upper valleys of the Penzhina and Olan rivers,
as well as west of the Taigonos Peninsula, woods of Larix dahurica occur which,
as in Anadyr, are found in the valleys of the Stanovoi Mountains.
woods of Populus suaveolens , Salix macrolepis , and Betula cajanderi up to approxi–
mately 150 meters. Single specimens of Larix dahurica have been found 150 to 200
km. east of boundary line of the Larix woods, out in the open tundra. In
the lowlands wet meadows with flower mats and masses alternate with shallow bogs,
and drier heaths with lichens in the lowest layer, as well as with Betula exilis
societies with Sphagnum . In hills and mountains Pinus pumila thickets, which are
luxuriant and almost impenetrable in the southern part of the area, alternate
with Alnus thickets, in which single Betula cajanderi trees occur at low altitudes.
The Pinus pumila thickets have an undergrowth of Sphagnum or of lichens, chiefly
Cladonia at low altitudes, but mostly Alectoria above an elevation of 150 to 250
m. In the north. Pinus pumila thickets with Sphagnum girgensohnii undergrowth
are especially common. The thickets cover the mountain sides up to about 300 to
400 m., sometimes even up to 700 m. Above 400 or 500 meters lichen heaths pre–
dominate. The mountains along the west coast are completely unknown botanically.
of the permanently frozen soil, the Betula ermani forests of Kamchatka interrupt
the forestless area stretching southward from the shore of the Arctic Sea. However,
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
this forestless area continues along the western coast of that peninsula to itssouthernmost tip. Part of this forestless strip consists of former lagoons
filled out with Sphagnum bogs, but part of it is covered with a vegetation like
that of the southern arctic tundras. The Betula forest reaches an altitude of
about 700 meters in the interior, but much less near the coast.
Geranium erianthum , Epilobium angustifolium , Cirsium kamtchaticum , Cimicifuga
simplex , lonicera chamissoi , doubtless remnants of the late Tertiary vegetation.
Along the large rivers there are alluvial meadows characterized by Thalictrum
kemense; Sanguisorba tenuifolia and Majanthemum kamchaticum and bordering forests
of Salix sachalinensis and Populus suaveolens ; in places also Salix macrolepis .
The fringing forests of Salix sachalinensis have an undergrowth consisting chiefly
of 2 to 3-meter high Filipendula Kamchatica thickets. In the southwest [ ] the 3 to
5-meter high Angelica ursina covers the alluvial meadows and gives a peculiar, very
luxuriant look to the landscape. In other places groves of Betula “japonica”
occur, always standing on alluvial soil, while the Betula ermani forest begins
higher up on the slopes. At an altitude of about 300 to 400 m. the Betula woods
are suddenly replaced by Alnus thickets, which are 3 to 4 m. high but gradually
diminish in height father up on the slopes. They alternate, especially at high
altitudes, with open meadowlike spots. On stony ground they are replaced by
Pinus pumila thickets. At an altitude of about 900 to 1,000 m. the thickets are
very low grown and break up into patches. Higher up, alpine heaths with Rhododendron
chrysanthum alternating with Vaccinium uliginosum heaths predominate.
forest about 250 km. long and at the broadest place about 100 km. broad occurs,
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
alternating with groves of Picea jezoensis . Nowhere do these forests reach thecoast. A very small isolated grove on an endemic confiner, Abies gracilis , closely
related to A. sachalinensis , occurs on the middle part of the eastern coast.
in the easternmost island, Unimak. The vegetation of the Aleutians is closely re–
lated to that of the alpine parts of Kamchatka Peninsula. In valleys and sheltered
placed meadows with Geranium erianthum , Anemone narcissiflora , Artemisia arctica ,
Erigeron peregrines , and Calamagrostis canadensis Langsdorffii occur. Shrubs
are rare, at least in the middle part of the chain, but in the eastern part, at
Unalaska, for instance, about 1 to 2-meter
at low altitudes. There, too, meadows with Thalictrum kemense , characteristic
of the Kamchatka Peninsula, occur. Above 80 to 100 m. a mosaic of alpine heaths
with abundant Empetrum , more or less mixed with Vaccinium uliginosum occurs,
alternating with meadowlike spots. On the easternmost island, Unimak, Alnus
thickets occur from sea level to a few tens of meters above it.
on the vegetation of the Katmai district seems to be the only phytogegraphical
survey of a limited area there.
lands, meadows with a high growth of Calamagrostis canadensis Lengsdorffii alternate
with Empetrum heaths with Vaccinium uliginosum , Betula exilis , Ledum decumbens ,
and Vaccinium vitis-idaea.
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
also thickets of willows. In the river valleys, at least in the eastern half of the
peninsula, there are fairly extensive forests of stunted Populus tacamahacca . Thus,
at Katmai, Populus forests about 50 square miles in area existed before the erup–
tion of the volcano, so that here as well as in Eastern Asia the poplar occurs
for outside the forest region.
crispa sinuata with undergrowth of Calamagrostis and ferns. These thickets are
very similar to those occurring in Kamchatka, although much less luxuriant and
less confluent than there.
There the tundra district borders on the coastal Picea sitchensis forest on the one
hand, and on the interior Picea glauca-birch forest on the other. Thus three very
different vegetational types meet at this spot.
is a low plain, covered at least in part with innumerable small lakes. Many of
them have developed into shallow bogs. Further inland the vegetation presumably
resembles that of the Aleutians and Alaska Peninsula. The coastal Alnus crispa
subsp. sinuata is replaced by Alnus crispa . To what extent it forms thickets there
is unknown. Probably it plays only a minor part in the vegetation. There, too,
Populus tacamahacca ( balsam poplar ) forms fringing forests along the rivers in
the eastern part, closest to the interior forest region. East of the tundra belt
bordering the Bering Sea the Picea glauca-Betula resinifera woods begin. Populus
[ ] tacamahacca and P. tremuloides occur along the streams. In the hills, thickets
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
of Alnus crispa and, in the muskegs, black spruce, Picea mariana , with under–growth of Salix bebbiana , Alnus crispa , and Ledum groenlandicum are of frequent
occurrence. In central Alaska larch occurs, and in the southwestern part
Betula kenaica .
boreal woods of North America. In the Norton Sound district they come close
to the shores of the Bering Sea.
with that of the nearly shore opposite. The Pribilof Islands have a flora simi–
lar to that of the Aleutians, although several arctic plants reach the Pribilofs
but not the Aleutians, such as:
Phippsia algida | Eutrema edwardsii |
Arctagrostis latifolia | Saxifraga hieracifolia |
Panunculus nivalis | Eritrichium chamissonis |
Panunculus pallasii | Hierochloe pauciflora |
Panunculus pygmaeus | Gentiana glauca |
Papaver macounii | Gentiana tenella |
Coryadalis pauciflora |
northernmost outposts in the Bering Sea area on the Pribilof Islands, such as:
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
Phleum alpinum | Fritillaria camschatica |
Deschampsia beringensis | Cerastium aleuticum |
Vahlodea atropurpurea paramushirensis | Stellaria ruscifolia aleutica |
Carex anthoxantea | Ranunculus eschscholtzii |
Carex hindsii | Lupinus nootkatensis |
Carex macrochaeta | Geranium erianthum |
Streptopus amplexifolius | Veronica stelleri |
plants reaching their southern limit in the Bering Sea area at St. Matthew Island
are:
Eriophorum callitrix | Ranunculus |
Carex misandra | Draba alpina |
Claytonia acutifolia | Ligusticum mutellinoides |
Claytonia tuburosa | Lagotis glauca stelleri |
Merckia physodes |
south in the Bering Sea area are found, such as:
Carex rariflora | Diapensia lapponica obovata |
Salix arctica | Primula borealis |
Salix chamissonis | Androsace ochotensis |
Ranunculus glacialis chamissonis | Artemisia glomerata |
Pyrola grandiflora | Senecio atropurpurea |
Cassiope tetragona | Saussurea viscida |
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
have a purely arctic vegetation connecting up with that of Chukotsk Peninsula
and seward Peninsula. Pinus pumila is entirely lacking. The island is con–
siderably poorer in species than either Chukotsk Peninsula or Seward Peninsula.
Romanzoffiana observatis. Linnaea 1-6 (1826-31). Fernow. B. E. The forest of Alaska. Forestly and Irrigation 8 (1902), pp.
66-70; also in Harriman Alaska Expedition 2 (1901), pp. 235-56. Flora SSSR. 1-14 (1934-49). Harriman Alaska Expedition 1-14. New York 1901-14. Editor: C.H. Merriam. Graves, H.S. The Forests of Alaska. Amer. Forestry 22 (1916) pp. 24-37, 15 illus. Hulten, E. Flora of Alaska and Yukon 1-10. Lunds Univ. Arsskr. 37-47 (1941–
1950) 1902, pp. 1280, maps (Kungl. Fysiogr. Sällsk. Handl. 52-61). Kellogg, R. S. The Forests of Alaska. U.S. Dept. Agricult. Forest Services Bull.
81 (1910), 24 pp. 8 pl., 1 fig., 1 map. Ledebour, C. F. v. Flora Rossica 1-4. Stutgartiae 1842-1853. Rothrock, J. T. Sketch of the Flora of Alaska. - Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst. 1867
(1868), pp. 433-63. Sargent, C. S. The Forests of Alaska. Gard. & For. 10 (1897), pp. 379-80. Sochawa, V. B. K istorii flory juzhnoi chasti aziatskoi Beringii. Bot.Journ.
SSSR. 18 (1933), pp. 278-86. Soczawa V. Zur Geschichte der Flora des südlichen Teiles von Asiatisch-Beringien.
Journ. Bot. U.R.S.S. 18:4 (1933), pp. 278-86.
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
Turner, L. M. Contrib. Net. Hist. Alaska. - S. Misc. Poc. 155, Congr. 1stSess, 8 (1886) pp.1-226. Vassiljev, V. N. Rastitelnost severnoj chasti vulkanicheskogo koltsa tichogo
okeana. Vegetation of the northern part of the volcanic ring
of the Pacific. Izv. Vesecojuz. Geogr. Obshch LXXVI: 5, pp.223-40.
A.E. Vegaexp. Vetenskapliga arbeten II (1883) pp. 473-572, 5 pl.
(In German: Die Phanerogamen-Flora an des Asiatischen küste der
Bering-Strasse. - Nordenskjöld, A.E. Die Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse
d. Vega Expedition 1 (1883), pp. 294-379. Kurtz, F. Die Flora der Tachuktschen Halbinsel nach den Sammlungen der Gebrüder
Krause. - Engler Bot. Jahrb. 19 (1895), pp. 432-493. Trautvetter, E. R. v. Flore terrae Tschuktschorum. Acta. Hort. Petrop. 6:1
(1879), pp.1-40.
valley of the Anadyr river in summer of 1929). Zapisk Vladiv. Otdj.
Russk. Geogr. Obshch. V (1930), pp. 41-119. Soczawa V. Von der Waldgrenze in aussersten Nordosten Asiens ( [ ] in Russian)
Priroda No.12 (1929). ----. Das Anadyrgebiet. Zeitschr. Ges. F. Erdkunde 1930, pp.241-263, 1 map. Sochawa, V. B. O pjatnistykh tundrakh Anadyrskogo kraja. (On the spotty tundra
of Anadyr district). Trudy polar. Komm. 2 (1930). ----. Rastenija sobrannye doktorom L. F. Grinevetskim na territorii v. Anadyr–
skoi okruzi (1890 gg.). (Plants collected by Dr. L. F. Hrynewecki in
the Anadyr district). Zap. Vladivost. Otdejel Russk. Geogr. Obshch.
V:2 (1930) pp. 175-77. ----. O nekotorykh rastenijakh Anadyrskogo kraja (On some plants of the Anadyr
region). Journ. Soc. Bot. Russ. 15:4 (1930) pp. 305-11. ----. The reindeer range and reindeer pasture in the Anadyrland (In Russian with
English resume). Transact. Arct. Inst. LXII (1936) pp. 1-104, 2 maps. Tjulina, L. On the forest vegetation of Anadyr Land and its correlation with the
tundras. Transact. Arct. Inst. 11, Geobotanic 1936.
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
Dalnevostochnogo kraja (Review of Phytogeography and soil in the
Penshina distr. of the Dalnivostakski rayon). Trudy Dalnevost.
filial Akad. Nauk. SSSR. 1 (1935), pp. 7-84. Pavlov. N. V. Materialy k flore Penzhinskogo raiona na Delnem Vastoke.
(Materials for the Flora of the Penzhina distr. In the Far East.),
pp. 601-06. Sochowa, V. B. Po tundra basseina Penzhinskoi gubi. Izv. Gas. Geograf. Ob–
shchestva 64 (1932), pp. 1-24.
Akad. Handl. Ser. 3 vol. 5, 8 (1927-30), 1100 pp., 791km maps,
28 pl., 69 fig., 1 colored map. Komarov, V. L. Flora Peninsulae Kamtschatka 1-3 (1927-30).
Vega Exp. Vetensk. Iaktt. 4 (1885), pp. 281-309. Resume in German
(Über die Phanerogamenflora der Kommandorski-Inseln. Bot. Centralbl.
26 (1886), p. 31.
Bot. 5 (1947), pp.9-13. Hulten, E. Flora of the Aleutian Islands. Stockholm, 1937, 398 pp., 477 maps,
6 fig., 6 pl. Hutchison I. W. Stepping Stones from Alaska to Asia. London & Glasgow, 1937,
246 pp. Appendix: Hulten, E., List of plants.
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of the Bering Sea District
Porsild, A. E. Vascular plants collected on Kiska and Great Sitkin Islands…Can.Field.Nat. 58 (1944), pp. 130-31. Tatewaki, M. Notes on plants of the western Aleutian Islands collected in 1929.
Transact. Sopporo Nat. Hist. Soc. 11 (1930) pp. 152-56; (1931) pp.200-09. ---- [ ] and Kobayashi, J. A contribution to the Flora of the Aleutian Islands.
Journ. Fac. Agric. Hokkaido Imp. Univ. 36 (1934), 119 p. Turner, L. M. Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska. Senate, Misc.Doc.
155, 49th Congr. 1st Sess. 8 (1886), List of plants by H. Mann, pp.61-85.
Ecology 15 (1934), pp. 80-96, 6 fig. ----. The vegetation of the Katmai district. - Ecology 17 (1936), p. 380-417, 13 fig.
A.J.; and Mendenhall, W.C. Reconnaisance in the Cape Nome and Norton
Bay regions Alaska in 1900. H.Doc. 547, 56th Congr., 2nd Sess. (1901),
pp.164-66. Eastwood, A. A. A descriptive list of plants collected by Dr. F. E. Blaisdell at
Nome City, Alaska. Bot. Gaz. 33 (1902), pp.126-194, 199-213, 284-99, 9
fig., 1 map. Flett, J. B. Notes on the Flora about Nome City. Plant word 4 (1901) pp.67-68. Kjellman, F. R. Fanerogamer från vest-eskimåernas land. Nordenskjöld, A.E.
Vega exped. Vetensk. Iakttag. 2 (1883), pp.25-60. Knowlton, F. H. List of Plants collected by C. L. McKay at Nushagak, Alaska in
1881 … Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 8 (1885), pp.213-221. Koidzumi, G. Plantae Siphogamae a N. Yokoyama anno 1907 in Alaska arctica,
Tschuktschore et Kamtschatka collectae. Bot.Mag. Tokyo 25 (1911), pp.
203-222. Muir, J. Some botanical notes from the Cruise of the Corwin. Torreya 18 (1918)
pp. 197-210. Porsild, A. E. Contributions to the Flora of Alaska. Rhodora 41 (1939), pp.
141-83, 199-254, 262-301, 4 pl., 1 map.
EA-PS: Hulten: Phytogeography of Bering Sea District
Seeman, B. C. The botany of the voyage of H.M.S. Herald … Flora of westernEskimaux-land. London, 1852-57, pp.11-56.
Expedit. Vetensk. Iakttag. 2 (1883) pp.1-23. Macoun, J. M. A list of the plants of the Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea …
Jordan, D.S. The Fur Seals and Fur Seal Islands of the North Pacific
Ocean. 3 (1899) pp. 559-87, 7 pl. Merriam, C. H. Plants of the Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea, with critical notes
by J. N. Rose. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 7 (1892), pp.133-50. Porsild, A. E. Flora of Little Diomede Island is Bering Strait. Trans. Roy.Soc.
Canad., Ser.3, Sect.5, 32 (1938), pp.21-38.