Shoreline Vegetation of the Arctic Alaska Coast

The vegetation of shoreline habitats was examined and systematically sampled at 15 locations along the Chukchi and Beaufort seas of arctic Alaska. In tidal salt marsh habitats, sampled at eight locations, three plant communities are described: Puccinellia phryganodes, at the seaward limit of vascular plant growth; Carex subspathacedP. phryganodes, at midtidal levels; and Carex rumenskiK. subsparhacea, at the upper limits of the tidal zone. Duponria fisheri was the'major dominant in the upper storm zone above the tidal communities. Plant communities of raised beaches, sampled at four locations, were floristically variable, but Salix species and Elymus arenarius consistently had high prominence values. Elymus arenarius dominated the five gravelly beach habitats sampled. Coastal dunes were sampled at two locations and again Salix and Elymus were the most important plant genera. Finally, four eroding coastal bluffs were examined and abundance values were assigned to representative plant species.