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Copper Plateau taiga (WWF ecoregion NA0604)


Route 4, southern Alaska (c) 2005 Scott and Ruth Bassett

Source of bioregions data: Olson, D. M. and E. Dinerstein. The Global 200: Priority ecoregions for global conservation. (PDF file) Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 89:125-126.

Distinctiveness (1=highest,4=lowest): 4 (nationally important)
The lakes and wetlands of this former Pleistocene lake provide nesting habitat for migratory bird species including a large number of trumpeter swans.  The Copper River has strong salmon runs.*

Conservation Status (1=most endangered, 5=most intact): 5 (relatively intact)
The region is 90% intact and is not significantly fragmented.*

Characteristic species*
Picea mariana (black spruce) (c) 2004 Maurice J. Kaufmann

Betula glandulosa (dwarf birch)

Betula nana (dwarf birch)

Eriophorum angustifolium (common cottongrass)

Carex spp. (sedges)

Menyanthes trifoliata (bogbean)

Petasites frigidus (arctic sweet coltsfoot)

Potentilla palustris (marsh cinquefoil)

Picea glauca (white spruce)

Populus trichocarpa (black cottonwood)

Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen)

Associated habitats

Copper Plateau with Wrangell Mts. in background, southern Alaska (c) 2005 Scott and Ruth Bassett  hires

* Ricketts, T.H., E. Dinerstein, D.M. Olson, C.J. Loucks, et al.  (1999) Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: A Conservation Assessment.  World Wildlife Fund - United States and Canada.  Island Press, Washington, D.C. pp. 353-355.

Except as noted, images copyright 2002-2005 Steve Baskauf - Terms of use